§ MR. FIELDTo ask the Under-secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will explain why members of the Exchequer and Audit Department serving in the Crown Colonies and Protectorates are not allowed their travelling expenses to and from the ports of embarkation.
(Answered by Colonel Seely). I can only assure my hon. friend that officers of the Exchequer and Audit Department are treated precisely in the same way as all civil officers of the Crown Colonies and Protectorates who receive free passages. It is an old-established practice that free passages should not carry also the right to free railway journeys, etc., between the port of embarkation and the home of the officers.
§ (Answered by Mr. Hobhouse). This is the general rule in force throughout the Colonial service, and accordingly the Colonial Office thought it desirable to adopt it in the cases referred to in the Question.