London, Feb. 19.
The House of Commons to-day began the long and important task of dealing with the Government of India Bill in its committee stage.
In the first six days, part one of the measure, in which the position of the Governor-General is defined, will be under debate.
Sir "Robert Home, Conservative member for the Hillhead division of Glasgow, this afternoon moved an amendment, the effect of which was that the Viceroy should be appointed only after there had been consulta tion with living "ex-Viceroys who were also members of the Privy He emphasized the vital import ance of the past and of having the right man to fit it, The Viceroy, he said, would be the Linchpin and Keystone of all this mighty fabric, and there was no office in the world to which choice of the right man was more important.
Sir Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for India, who agreed that the ost was one' of vital importance, said that, while he was anxious 10 keep the appointment as far as Possible out of the ordinary rut of party politics, there were grave objections to introducing quite a new procedure into the Constitution and taking the appointment altogether out of the control of Parliament.
The Government, he added, would not accept the amendment in that form, but he would welcome an opportunity of considering the views of members from all parts of the House on the subject.
After further discussion, Sir Robert Home withdrew his amendment—Wireless through Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.