§ MR. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will cause inquiry to be made in regard to the treatment of the 135 British subjects, natives of Ceylon and India, in the compound at the Franco-British Exhibition; will care be taken that they be furnished with a sufficient supply of suitable food and clothing; and will arrangements be made for them to obtain exercise outside the compound.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI have communicated with the authorities at the Exhibition, and I am informed by them that all these natives are brought over under a contract whereby they receive a free journey from India or Ceylon to London, and back at the close of the Exhibition. I have ascertained, further, that they receive good salaries, and are properly housed, clothed, and fed. They can move freely about the Ceylon village and in the Indian arena, and get more exercise than they actually care for. They have, besides, on Sundays the run of the whole Exhibition.
§ MR. GLADSTONEsaid he had every reason to believe in the accuracy of his information.
§ MR. WEIRsaid they had been there several weeks. He further asked the right hon. Gentleman whether the contractor who brought these natives over was a German. Would the right hon. Gentleman accept his statement that they were not properly clothed or fed?
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)Has the right hon. Gentleman seen them? I have, and they are the nearest thing to Adam before the Fall.
§ [No Answer was returned.]