§ LORD ELCHOasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether, inasmuch as Government have refused to sanction a Review of Volunteers in Hyde Park, because public order would be endangered, and the trees, flowers, and shrubberies injured by the crowd that would be assembled on such an occasion, and also on account of the interruption to street traffic, it is to be understood that for the future no Reviews of the regular troops, or militia, nor any 69 political demonstrations are to be held in Hyde Park; and, what was the amount of injury, in money value, done to the flowers and shrubberies on the occasion of the last Volunteer Hyde Park Review?
§ MR. CHILDERSIn reply to my noble Friend, I must remind him and the House that, as Secretary of State for War, I have nothing to do with the general regulations for the use of Hyde Park, and I am not aware that it is intended under the Statute to make any change in those regulations. So far as the use of the Park for Reviews is concerned, no general decision has been adopted by the War Department, but each case will stand on its own merits. The proposals for the great Volunteer Review were brought before us by a committee of officers, who stated that 45,000 men would be assembled; and Her Majesty's Government were of opinion that, considering the enormous crowds which would probably be collected to witness a Review on such a scale, it ought not to be held in Hyde Park. As to the second Question of my noble Friend, I can only say that I have not charge of the Park, and therefore it is not in my power to say what was the extent of the money value of the injury done on the occasion of the last Volunteer Review.