§ MAJOR ARBUTHNOTasked the Under Secretary of State for India, If he is aware that some of the Officers of the Royal Horse Artillery, ordered unexpectedly to England in February 1871, unsuccessfully applied for passages for their horses, on account of the impossibility of selling them except at a heavy loss, owing to the short notice which they received; and, whether, in consideration of the large saving effected by the Indian Exchequer by the sudden and unexpected withdrawal of a whole brigade of Horse Artillery, which must otherwise have remained in the country until the following cold season, the Secretary of State for India will re-consider his decision with regard to compensation to the Officers for the losses incurred?
MR. GRANT DUFFIn reply, Sir, to the hon. and gallant Member's first Question, I have to say that I am not aware that the officers alluded to applied for passages for their horses. There is nothing on record at the India Office to show that they did, nor has it ever been the practice for troops proceeding to or from India to take their horses. In reply to his second Question, I have to say that the Secretary of State does not propose to re-consider the decision arrived at by him in Council.