MR. DUNDAS WHITETo ask the Secretary of State for India if he can say what is the number of the garrison churches in India, built wholly or in part with public moneys, of which the Church of England claims 1068 the legal right to the exclusive use, basing that claim on the fact of consecration alone; where these churches are situated; and what, as regards each of them, were the approximate dates of the buildings, the consecration, and the assertion of the claim to such exclusive use.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Morley.) I regret that I have not the material to enable me to answer this Question in detail, but I am making further inquiry. Meanwhile I venture to refer my hon. friend to the Memorandum laid before Parliament before Easter. Generally it may be said that all military stations (except possibly some recently established) have a garrison church; that at all old-established stations this church was consecrated many years ago, and that the act of consecration at the request or with the permission of the Government of India, and the contract implied thereby, is the basis of the claim of the Bishop to control the use of the edifice for religious purposes.