§ SIR BRAMPTON GURDONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether the cost of the Colonial troops, raised in South Africa for the defence of their own country, was borne by the Imperial Treasury; whether the normal expenses of the King's African Rifles, employed in Somaliland, were defrayed from the fund of the several Protectorates which were not concerned with the expedition on which their troops served; and what is the reason for the difference in policy in these two cases.
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERThe cost of the Colonial troops, specially raised for the war, was borne by Imperial funds up to 31st October, 1901; after that date it was borne by Colonial funds. The normal cost of such colonial troops as existed before the war was borne by Colonial funds throughout, so long as the troops were employed within the borders of the colony. The normal cost of the King's African Rifles employed in Somaliland was borne by the funds of the Protectorates to which the several contingents belonged, except that of the 6th battalion, which was borne by the funds of the Somaliland Protectorate. 1716 As the Protectorates are not self-supporting, the ultimate incidence of the whole cost of the Somaliland operations was necessarily upon Imperial funds.