§ MR. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India can he state what were the numbers of commissioned officers of all ranks borne on the establishment of the Indian Armies on 1st January, 1901 and 1902, respectively, including and specifying the number of native Indian commissioned officers. And can the annual cost of the commissioned officers on the Indian establishment be approximately stated.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. Hamilton,) Middlesex, EalingAssuming that what the hon. Member wishes is to know the numbers of the sanctioned establishment of commissioned officers in the Indian Army for 1900–1 and 1901–2, my answer is, for the former year, 4,904 British, 2,761 native; for the latter year, 5,419 British and 2,761 native. The annual cost of the commissioned officers cannot be given, even approximately, as a separate item, without a considerable amount of clerical labour and probably not without a reference to India.
§ MR. SCHWANNI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he will give, as an unopposed Return, the memorandum which, on 16th March, 1899, he promised to the late Member for Burnley, the hon. Philip Stanhope, with regard to the changes which had taken place during the years 1887 to 1889, or thereabouts, in the methods of recruiting and organising the native armies by the Indian military authorities, with special regard to the formation of regiments or companies of special races, castes, or communities.
§ LORD G. HAMILTONI have no objection to making the memorandum regarding changes in the native army which was prepared in March, 1900, a Parliamentary Return.