§ LORD GEORGE HAMILTONasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether it is true that the colours of the 68th Regiment, recently ordered by the War Office to be sent from Ireland to London to be inscribed with a record of the New Zealand campaign, have been lost; whether this loss has not been occasioned by the refusal of the War Office to allow the usual escort for colours; and, whether the cost of supplying the 68th Regiment with new colours will not more than balance the saving incurred by refusing to allow a proper escort? The noble Lord stated that he had altered the form of the Question printed by substituting "New Zealand" for "Abyssinia."
§ SIR HENRY STORKSI am glad, Sir, my noble Friend has altered the form of his Question, as I was about to say in reply that the 68th Regiment, not having formed part of the expedition to Abyssinia, would not be entitled to bear that distinction. They have, however, served in Now Zealand, and it was to have that scroll affixed that the regimental colour, not colours, was sent from Templemore to the Royal Army Clothing Depôt at Pimlico. Colours are not sent to regiments by escort, but are conveyed by the ordinary means of transit through the contract carriers, by whom the regimental colour in question was lost. The cost of supplying the new colour will not fall upon the public, but upon the carrier with whom responsibility for the loss rests.