Letter from Edward Troup to the Under Secretary of the State for India, 19 July 1916 Letters 1916-1923 Edward Troup

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Letter from Sir Edward Troup (1857-1941), Under Secretary of Home State, to Baron Islington (1866-1936), Under Secretary of India regarding the removal of Criminal Lunatics to England under the provisions of the Colonial Prisoner Removal Act. In this letter, written in accordance to Mr. Herbert Samuel's directions, Troup suggests that such decisions should be made by the Home Secretary rather than the Government of India. John Poynder Dickson-Poynder, Baron Islington (1866–1936), politician and colonial administrator, the only son of the four children of Rear-Admiral John Bourmaster Dickson (1815–1876), and his first wife, Sarah Matilda. Having not achieved government office in the House of Commons, Dickson-Poynder in 1910 accepted the offer of appointment as governor-general of New Zealand, and, on 27 April 1910, was created Baron Islington of Islington. In 1911 he was sworn of the privy council and appointed KCMG. But in 1912 he resigned his governorship in order to become chairman of the royal commission on the public services in India. He was appointed GCMG in 1913 and in 1914–15 was under-secretary of state for the colonies. From 1915 to 1918 he was under-secretary of state for India.Herbert Samuel (1870-1963), liberal politician, served as Home Secretary of the British Government 1916. During the Great War he initiated legislation which offered thousands of Russian refugees a choice between conscription into the British Army, or returning to Russia for military service. Samuel resigned as Home Secretary following Asquith's replacement by David Lloyd George.

 National Archives of Ireland NAI-CSO-RP-1916-12662, NAI-CSO-RP-1916-12662 https://letters1916.ie/item/970 English Edward Troup 1916-07-19T00:00:00 Home Office, Whitehall, London, England The Under Secretary of the State for India Public Department, India Office Male Industry and Public Administration

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 No. 313,061. HOME OFFICE, WHITEHALL. 19th July, 1916. Sir, I am directed by Mr. Herbert Samuel to send for Mr. Chamberlain's information the following observations on the despatch from the Indian Government copy of which accompanied your letter of the 5th instant. The removal of Criminal Lunatics to this country under the provisions of the Colonial Prisoner Removal Act, 1884, is not of very frequent occurrence and the cases in which such a course may be desirable vary so much that it is difficult to make any general statement as to the practice in dealing with them subsequently to the removal. In Mr. Samuel's opinion the governing fact is that under the Criminal Lunatics Act, 1884, the Home Secretary is responsible for all Criminal Lunatics in England: reports on them are made to him not less than once a year and under section 4 of the Act consideration has to be given at least once in every three years to the question whether the lunatic can be safely discharged or whether any other action should be taken in regard to him. The determination of this question at any particular time must of course depend not only on the man's mental and physical health, and the possibility of relapse into active insanity, but also on the nature of his crime, on his history before becoming a Criminal Lunatic and his prospects in the event of discharge from the asylum. In the case of a lunatic sent from India, the Indian Government would be consulted on these points and this would be specially necessary in the case of a man who had been certified insane while undergoing Penal Servitude in India. If The Under Secretary of State for India, Public Department, India Office. If such a one were to recover his sanity before the expiration of his term of Penal Servitude it would be a question whether he should be remitted to prison as contemplated by Section 3 of the Act of 1884 or discharged and in the latter case what conditions (if any) should be attached to the discharge. If there was a substantial portion of the sentence still unexpired or if the sentence was one for life, it would be the desire of this Department to consult the India Government before taking steps for releasing the man from custody; and it is extremely unlikely that a discharge would ever be authorized without consulting them, but in view of his responsibilities under the Criminal Lunatics Act, 1884, the Home Secretary would not feel it right to accept custody of an insane prisoner from India except on the condition that this powers under the Act remain intact with regard to the case. It will be understood that this applies only to England and Wales. The Secretary of State has no jurisdiction in this matter in Scotland and Ireland: and the Criminal Lunatics Act, 1884, extends only to England and Wales. Prisoners sent to England from India to serve a sentence of Penal Servitude stand on a different footing from lunatics as the sentence can only be remitted by the Indian Government, but here too it is conceivable that for reasons arising since a convict's removal from India and unconnected with the offence of which he has been convicted, such as his state of health or the assistance rendered by him to the Prison Authorities in an emergency, it might become desirable in accordance with the practice followed in the case of other convicts to allow his release on licence earlier than in the ordinary course and in such an event the decision to release should, in Mr. Samuel's opinion, rest with the Home Secretary rather than with the Government of India. I am, etc. . (Sd.) Edward Troup. Home Office, Whitehall, London, England Letter from M. L. 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Waller to Sir Robert Chalmers, 5 July 1916Letter from John Peddar to Matthew Nathan, 22 January 1916Letter from M.L. Waller to Robert Chalmers, 10 July 1916Letter from A.B. Adams to Robert Chalmers, 19 July 1916Letter from George Chrystal to Andrew Philip Magill, 14 April 1916Letter from J.H. Morgan to Herbert Samuel, 4 August 1916Letter from Arthur John Eagleston to the Under-Secretary, Dublin Castle, 4 April 1916Letter from Arthur Eagleston to the Under Secretary for Ireland, 8 June 1916 Public Department, India Office Letter from Edward Troup to the Under Secretary of the State for India, 19 July 1916 Edward Troup Letter from Edward Troup to the Under Secretary of the State for India, 19 July 1916Letter from Sir Edward Troup, 26 September 1916Letter from Edward O'Farrell to Sir Edward Troup, 27 June 1916