Mr. CHANCELLORasked the Undersecretary of State for India, if he would give the latest Returns concerning the plague in India, the district most affected, and whether the death-rate, compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, is declining?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Herbert Lewis, for Mr. Montagu)The latest Return of plague mortality is for the month of January, 1912. The deaths were 49,229, against 91,434 in January, 1911. The areas most affected are in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, the Hyderabad State, and the Bombay Presidency. As far as can be judged at present, the disease is less virulent than in the preceding year, but there are still two months before the period of maximum intensity will be reached.