§ MAJOR EVANS-GORDON (Tower Hamlets, Stepney)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he can state the differences in cost per man per annum, between the English and the native private soldier in India.
§ LORD GEORGE HAMILTONAn exact calculation of the annual cost of a British soldier and a native soldier in India cannot be made from the materials that are at my disposal in this country. It was, however, estimated in a Return presented to Parliament in 1894 (No. 20) that the average annual cost of 1231 a British soldier, exclusive of deferred pay and pension, was Rs.891, and that the cost of a native soldier was Rs.343. Since the date of that estimate the pay and allowances of the British soldier have been increased by about Rs.123 a year, and on the 1st April. 1904, a further increase of Rs.146 a year (sixpence a day) will come into effect. There has been an increase of about Rs.37 a year in the pay and allowances of the native soldier.