Sir HERBERT ROBERTSasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to a pamphlet written by Mr. Wacha, the joint general secretary of the Indian National Congress, urging a reduction of military expenditure, on the lines recommended by the late Sir Charles Dilke; and whether, in view of the financial requirements of the Government of India in connection with sanitation, education, and other needs of the masses of India, the Government of India contemplates a reduction in Indian miltary expenditure?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the WAR OFFICE (Mr. Tennant) (for the Under-Secretary of State for India)I have seen the pamphlet to which my hon. Friend refers. As I stated in my Budget speech of this year, expenditure in all its branches, including military expenditure, is being strictly reviewed; and, as the Secretary of State has announced in another place, the subject is to be specially considered by a Committee presided over by Field-Marshal Sir William Nicholson.