§ SIR JOHN ROLLESTONTo ask the Secretary of State for India whether, now that the Indian Exchequer has a surplus, he will remove the duties on goods entering India from the United Kingdom, imposed by the Government of 1894, and thus remove the hindrance to British trade with India.
(Answer.) I am unable to give any undertaking that the Indian Customs duties, which are levied solely for revenue purposes, and which represent the large sum of £3,500,000 sterling, will be removed or reduced. The estimated surplus of receipts over expenditure in this year's Budget does not allow of any such reduction of taxation, while, for reasons explained in Sir Edward Law's Financial Statement, the continuance of the present surplus cannot be confidently counted on. (India Office.)