Page:A General Biography of Bengal Celebrities Vol 1.djvu/54

 HIS VISIT TO ENGLAND IN 1888. of State for India, who is assisted by a council/ but would yon believe it, that this gentleman*, the Secretary of State and his Council are sometimes ignorant of things which private mem- bers of parliament are in fall possession of? (Cries of "Shame * and laughter). The other day I bad the great privilege of listening to your respected representative in tho House of Commons — (loud cheers)— and in the course of his speech he Was able to tell the Under-Secretary of State that he knew a good deal more of what was going on in connection with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company than the Secretary and his advi- sers did in this country. (Cheers.) When any question is asked in the House of Commons of the Under-Secretary the answar invariably is— "The Secretary of State has no official knowledge of the matter" (laughter)— and Unless the hon. member putting the question is persistent, and after a short time again pnts the question, it seems to me that the Secretary of State never has any official knowledge of anything under the sun in India. (Laughter and cheers.) Then the Secretary of State is entirely dependent upon the advice he receives from India, and he does not seem to have in Ins possession any machinery by which it is possible for him to check what the officials in India send to him as a true account of what is taking plaoe. ("Shame.") I need not go farther than just across St* George's Channel to remind yon that the official information sent over is very different from the information whioh from other sources you are getting daily. (Cheers.) I don't for one moment mean to say that the condition of India is like the condition of Ireland. Thank goodness, we are ever so much better off there than the people in Ireland (hoar, hear), but bring forward the case of Ireland for the purpose of showing you that OFFICIAL INFORMATION is not in every instance true information. (Cheers.) In India the supreme rule is in the hands of the Viceroy and his Council. They act from tho information which they receive