§ Mr. LEA (St. Pancras, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers arrived at Southampton from Egypt on the 14th instant, their destination being Dublin, not many hours sail further on; whether he is aware that this battalion was disembarked at South 1348 ampton, put into a train for Holyhead re-embarked there, and, after a very bad passage, arrived at daylight and marched through Dublin at 6 a.m. in pouring rain to Portobello Barracks; and, considering that the growth of military expenditure in recent years precludes ecomomy being alleged as a ground for any acts of mal-administration by the military authorities, why these officers and men were put to such an amount of discomfort, with probable injury to health, considering the battalion was fresh from a hot climate, when the ship might have been sent on direct to Dublin; and will he say what would have been the extra cost, if any, if the transport had been sent on to Dublin to disembark the men, and what was the cost involved in transporting this regiment from Southampton to Dublin in the manner actually carried out.
§ MR. HALDANEThe facts are as stated in the Question. My hon. friend is, however, apparently unaware that the "Soudan," a vessel of 6,600 tons, cannot be berthed at Dublin Port. The cost involved in sending the regiment by rail from Southampton was £550. If it had been possible to send the vessel to Dublin the extra expense would have been £475.
§ MR. LEAIs there any reason why the troops should not have been sent to Kingston and disembarked there?
§ MR. HALDANEI do not know if there would have been any saving by that.
§ MR. LEAIt is not a question of saving; it is the discomfort and hardship imposed on the men I am thinking of.
§ MR. HALDANEI cannot say if more discomfort was involved in the route taken.