QUESTION. (Hansard, 18 April 1859)

§ THE EARL OF ELLENBOROUGH

asked Whether Her Majesty's Government has adopted measures for placing the Army in India in possession of Prize Property. In putting the Question he thought it desirable to explain the peculiar position in which the Prize Property arising from the present war stood, The property captured 1859 might be divided into two classes—that which might fairly be called booty taken in war; and that which was the result of forfeiture by reason of the treason of its owners. Now if he apprehended that a very small portion of the property in the possession of the prize-agents could be called "booty" in the usual acceptation of the term; and if the donation to the army was to consist merely of that portion of the captured property which came strictly within the term it would be very inconsiderable and totally inadequate to the purpose. That which might more properly be called forfeiture was much more considerable; but the claim of the army to this was not so clear as its claim to the former. The property for instance taken at Delhi and a great deal of that taken at Lucknow was booty, having been taken in war from the public enemy; but he doubted very much whether the Begum and others in a similar position would be held by jurists to be public enemies. These matters must be considered by the Government before they came to any conclusion, and he earnestly hoped that the Government would come to an early decision. Nothing could be so inconvenient as to defer the grant of that to which the army considered itself entitled To that army we owed the empire of India. In the course of eighteen months that army had re-conquered an empire which it took their glorious predecessors 100 years to acquire. It was to their exertions that we owed the possession of India, and he thought that the time bad come when the Crown should grant to the army some material mark of favour for the benefits received.

§ THE EARL OF DERBY

I quite agree with my noble Friend, not only in the merited eulogium which he has passed upon the gallantry and services of the army in India, but also in the opinion he has expressed, that rewards of this kind lose a great deal of their value if they are not speedily as well as cheerfully bestowed. I therefore extremely regret that it is not in my power to give him so satisfactory an answer as I could wish. The circumstances of the various captures are so exceedingly different, that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to lay down any positive rule applicable to them all. But, with regard to the capture of Delhi, the Indian Government have laid down certain regulations which were acquiesced in by the late Court of Directors. They excepted, in the first place, from that which properly 1860 belonged to the troops the recovery of any stores or Government property which had been previously seized by the rebels, and they further excepted from that which might be regarded as prize any private property to which the claims of individual owners could be fairly recognized. As to the rest, the commanding officers were directed to appoint committees to examine what the amount of prize collected had been, and to make a return of the total amount under different heads that might be properly appropriated to the army, or which either belonged to the State or to private individuals. The principle laid down by the Governor General was, as I have said, acquiesced in by the late Court of Directors, who as long ago as July, 1858, sent out their approval of it, accompanied by a request that a return might be forwarded to this country with the least possible delay, stating the sums which might be legitimately distributed among the troops, in order that no time might be lost in obtaining the authorization of the Crown to the distribution. To that despatch of July last I regret to say that up to the present moment no answer whatever has been received at the India House. As to the question raised with regard to the captures at other places, such as Kandeish, Kotah, and above all Lucknow, they are still under consideration by the Indian Government, and no decision has yet been arrived at upon the principle on which the distribution should proceed. But I can assure my noble Friend that no time shall be lost in urging upon the Government of India the necessity of hastening their operations, and of forwarding us the earliest information, so as to enable us to satisfy the just expectations of the army in this matter.