§ MR. T. DUNCOMBEsaid, he would beg to ask the hon. Under Secretary for War when the revised Copy of the Army Regulations and Orders would be ready for distribution or sale; also, what was the date of the Order or Authority, and to whom it had been sent and addressed, upon which the disbandment of the Land Transport Corps took place, as stated by him on Friday last, and whether there was any objection to lay upon the table a Copy of such order or authority?
§ MR. FREDERICK PEELsaid, the revision of the Regulations was nearly completed, and as soon as they were completed the publication would take place at once. With regard to the Land Transport Corps, instructions were issued from the War Department in May or April, 1856, directing that the detachments on their arrival in this country should be reduced as fast as possible. In August last an Order in Council was passed, authorizing the formation of a Military Train, and directing that any men belonging to the Land Transport Corps who should join the Military Train should be re-enlisted, and the disbandment of the Land Transport Corps followed.
§ MR. T. DUNCOMBEsaid, he wished to know if the Order in Council had been gazetted.
§ MR. FREDERICK PEELreplied, that the Order in Council had been issued in the usual form.
§ MR. T. DUNCOMBEsaid, the Orders were at present in abeyance, and the officers of the army could not obtain them. An advertisement had been issued, announcing that they were to be had at Messrs. Parkers', in the Strand; but on applying there that morning he was assured that the press had been stopped, and that no copies were to be had. The same answer had been given to different officers; and, on applying at the War Office, they were told that the Orders 1725 were not ready. With regard to the Land Transport Corps, he wished to know if the hon. Gentleman was prepared to lay the authority for its disbandment on the table. The 8,000 men who had been disbanded knew nothing of what was to take place until after their arrival from the Crimea, and they considered that they had been hardly used. He wished to see the Order, because he believed the act of the War Department was illegal. But, even if it should not be illegal, he submitted that a great injustice had been committed, which ought to be inquired into. He wished a copy of the Order to be laid on the table, and it was his intention to bring the subject under the consideration of the House.
§ SIR JAMES FERGUSSONsaid, he must urge upon the Government the necessity of coming to a speedy decision respecting the officers of the Land Transport Corps. Great uncertainty prevailed on the subject, and the paymasters in the troop were at the present time kept without their Pay.
§ MR. FREDERICK PEELsaid, he could not give any further information with regard to the Orders and Regulations. They required great consideration, and the whole had been completed with the exception of that portion relating to the embarkation of troops. As soon as they were completed, they would be published. He was not aware of any difficulty in procuring copies of the existing Regulations. The Land Transport Corps was reduced under the instructions of the War Department, and not by Order in Council.