§ MR. HARVEY LEWISsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, The number of Lieutenant Colonels who have commanded the 86th Regiment since January, 1862; the number of different Stations at which the 86th Regiment has been quartered during the last three years, including removals at the Cape of Good Hope and Mauritius; whether it be true that the sum of five shillings a-day, allowed for sixteen days to the Officers of the 86th Regiment on arrival at Algoa Bay, to compensate for unavoidable expenses and loss of mess, has been since stopped out of the pay of the Officers by Orders from home; whether the Colonial allowance of 1s. 6d. per diem allowed at the Cape of Good Hope has been since stopped, and Officers compelled to re-fund that sum; whether it is not the fact that the admissions into the Hospital in 1868, of Men, Women, and Children of the 86th Regiment were in January 370 men, 45 women, 68 children; February, 320 men, 39 women, 61 children; March, 257 men, 35 women, 47 children; April, 175 men, 27 women, 38 children: whether he has any objection to lay upon the Table of the House Copy of the Correspondence of Medical Officers at the Cape of Good Hope and Port Elizabeth, shadowing forth what would happen if the Regiment was sent to the Mauritius; and all Correspondence between the Medical Officers and the authorities at the Mauritius regarding the landing of the Regiment during the epidemic; and, whether it be true that it is contemplated sending the 86th Regiment to India in its present reduced and sickly state?
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTON, in reply, said, he would give the best Answer to the seven Questions that he could. The number of Lieutenant Colonels who had commanded the 86th Regiment in the term specified was five; and the Stations at which it had been quartered in the last three years were Gibraltar, the Cape, and the Mauritius. It was not the case that the allowance of 5s. per day had been stopped 303 from the Officers' pay, but a smaller allowance, known as the Field allowance, had been stopped, and that was probably the origin of the hon. Member's Question. The Colonial allowance of 1s. 6d. per day at the Cape was stopped under a misapprehension, but it was now to be re-commenced. With respect to the admissions into hospital, he regretted to say that he believed the numbers given in the Question to be substantially correct. He should be very unwilling to produce the Correspondence referred to in the latter part of the Question, and he hoped the hon. Member would not press for it. In answer to various Questions that had been put, he had always stated the exact position of affairs with respect to this Regiment at the Mauritius, and, amongst other things, that in consequence of the circumstances under which the Regiment landed, the Commander-in-Chief had sent out an Order for a Report of the circumstances to be forwarded. That Report had been received and submitted to him (Sir John Pakington), but he was reluctantly obliged to concur in the opinion of his Royal Highness, that that Report was not satisfactory. In consequence of that decision, the Commander-in-Chief had communicated to the General commanding at Mauritius, his opinion on the subject. Justice had been done, and he thought no good effect would be produced by reviving the subject. There was no intention of sending the Regiment to India, nor did he believe that such an intention had ever existed.