§ MR. MONTAGUE GUESTasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, What are the pay and allowances of the Military Attaché to the British Embassy at Paris from the Foreign Office, as well as from the War Office, and whether it is a five years' appointment; what are the pay and allowances of the Military Attachés at Berlin, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, and whether they are five years' appointments; how long the present Military Attaché at Paris has held this post; by whose orders he left the head quarters of the French Army under General Trochu on or about 12th December 1870; whether any other Military Attaché was present with the garrison of Paris to report upon the military operations after 13th December until the Capitulation of the City; whether the Military Attaché who left Paris joined the British Ambassador in France or whether he re- 1772 turned to England; and, if so, by whose orders, and whether any intimation was given to him that Lord Lyons desired the presence of a British Military Attaché with General Bourbaki's Army for which duty he was available; and, also on what day the Military Attaehé actually returned to his post, and by whose authority he absented himself from France, and whether he had not received the local rank of Major General to give him greater influence during the active military operations?
§ VISCOUNT ENFIELDThe military attacé at Paris receives a salary of £500 a-year, charged in the Diplomatic Estimates, and any expenses of journeys on public service would be allowed on account rendered. There is no limit of time during which the appointment may be held. The military attachés at Berlin, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, are named and paid by the War Department, though nominally they are under the Foreign Office. They have a salary of £500 a-year, and £100 a-year lodging money, charged in the Army Estimates. The present military attaché at Paris has held the appointment since the 1st of October, 1858. He left the head quarters of the French Army under General Trochu, under the discretionary orders conveyed to him from Lord Granville, as appears at page 5, No. 7, in the Correspondence of the Franco-German War, No. 2; those instructions being that he should follow the course adopted by the military attachés of other countries who may have remained in Paris. To the best of my information no other military attaché was present with the garrison of Paris after the 13th of December until the capitulation. The military attaché did not rejoin the British Ambassador, two extra military attachés, Colonels Reilly and Feilding, having during General Claremont's stay in Paris gone out from England to Bordeaux, being instructed to place themselves at Lord Lyons' disposal, and subsequently proceeding to the headquarters of the Army of the Loire. In these circumstances General Claremont arrived in England and reported his arrival to the Secretary of State; he afterwards returned to France, under orders to that effect on 24th February. Both Colonel Walker and Colonel Claremont had the local rank of Major-General conferred upon them as affording them a better position during active military operations.
§ SIR ROBERT PEELAm I to understand the noble Lord as saying that the sole allowance to the military attaché in Paris from the Foreign Office and the War Office is £500 a-year?
§ VISCOUNT ENFIELDThe pay of the military attaché in Paris is £500 a-year. That is charged in the Diplomatic Estimates. He also receives his half-pay from the War Office, and an allowance is made to him for certain expenses out of funds in the hands and at the disposal of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
§ MR. MONTAGUE GUESTIs it a five years' appointment?
§ VISCOUNT ENFIELDThe appointment is held for an indefinite period.