§ MR. ARTHUR O'CONNORSir, a Question of which I have given Notice has been so altered and cut down that I can scarcely recognize it, and, by whomsoever it was done, it is an unwarrantable liberty, for the chief point of the Question has been entirely eliminated. That point is, whether Mr. Clifford Lloyd, though he removed a number of officers on the alleged ground of reorganization and economy, introduced, on the other hand, a number of his own nominees; whether the Inspector General, Baker Pasha, receives £ 1,500 a-year; whether three deputy Inspectors General are not now receiving £1,000 a-year each; whether three additional Inspectors are not appointed at £700 a-year; whether the commandant in. Cairo is not receiving £600 a-year; whether Lieutenant Colonel Walsh, late of the 44th Foot, is not getting another £1,000, and numerous other officers receiving proportionately high salaries? I wish to any that, by whatever authority—[Cries of "Order!"]—this is a matter of personal privilege—I wish to intimate to you as Deputy Speaker, and would say it to the Speaker if he were in his place, that by whatever authority this alteration was made in my Question without any communication with me, or any authority from me, it was a piece of liberty which I resent. The Question, as asked, was as follows:—Whether Mr. Clifford Lloyd has, on the alleged ground of reorganisation and economy, dispensed with the services of several officials connected with the police in Egypt; whether Major Barrow, Captain Fenwick, and Lieutenant Rhodes are Commissioned Officers on full pay, and whether there is any precedent for full pay Officers being employed in such manner under the command of a person no longer holding a commission; and, whether Sub-Inspector Gibbons will be allowed to count his service in Egypt towards promotion in the Constabulary in Ireland?
§ LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICESir, I can, of course, only answer the Question on the Paper. Her Majesty's Government have no information with regard to the details of the Departmental changes in the Ministry to which Mr. Clifford Lloyd belongs. The officers named by the hon. Member are on the 1168 active list; but while temporarily lent to the Egyptian Government for Constabulary duties, they are not receiving any pay from Her Majesty's Government. There are many precedents, I am informed, for officers being similarly employed. It is not within my province to reply to the third part of the hon. Member's Question, as the subject of it is purely Irish.