§ SIR W. J. COLLINSTo ask the Secretary of State for India whether he proposes to institute any further inquiry into certain deaths from tetanus in the Punjab consequent on the employment of Dr.Haffkine's prophylactic against plague, or whether he accepts the conclusions of the Jenkins' Commission and of the Lister Institute as final; what action he proposes to take in regard to the further use of Dr. Haffkine's prophylactic, and, if it is to be employed in the future, to which standard will it be required to conform; and whether Dr. Haffkine is to be reinstated or not.
§ (Answered by Mr. Secretary Morley.) After giving the case my careful attention 946 I am not prepared to institute another inquiry into a question which has been exhaustively examined by two impartial and independent bodies, and respecting which no conclusion can be arrived at with absolute certainty. The prophylactic continues to be manufactured at the Bombay plague laboratory. As is stated in the Government of India Press Notice, dated 13th December, 1904, the "Standard method "of preparing the fluid has been reverted to, the fluid being sterilised by methods approved by the Indian Plague Commission, and containing the requisite proportion of carbolic acid. The latest report of the laboratory states that inoculation is now extensively employed without any untoward results, and I do not propose to take any action with regard to it. Mr. Haffkine's position was explained in the Answer which I gave to the Question asked by the hon. Member on the 19th March, 1907. †If he elects to return to India he will be employed on research work at a salary equal to that of which he was in receipt when he left India.