THE EARL OF DONOUGHMOREbegged to ask a question of the noble Lord the Secretary for War. The militia were now in a rapid course of disembodiment, but he believed that no steps had been taken to disband the foreign troops which had been enlisted into Her Majesty's service. It would be satisfactory to know what were the intentions of the Government as to those foreign troops, and what was the cost of those troops at present to the country.
§ LORD PANMUREsaid, the terms on which the foreign legions were enlisted were, that they should serve Her Majesty in every capacity the same as the other troops enlisted for the service in the line, and that they should be liable to be sent abroad to the seat of war on active service, under Her Majesty's standard, in the same way as any other troops. Neither the officers nor men of those legions, upon being disembodied, were to receive any single advantage beyond the British troops, neither would they receive any half pay. In former wars, when foreigners were enlisted, one of the conditions of service was that they should be entitled to half-pay the same as the regular army. That was not to be the case in the present instance. When the foreign legions were disembodied, the men were to be sent to their homes, or to be located in some British colony, at the expense of the Government. In the event of their being wounded, the officers and men were to come under the same regulations as the officers and men 1153 of Her Majesty's army, and receive pensions. The foreign legions that had been sent to the Crimea had distinguished themselves as much and had maintained as good order as any troops of her Majesty's service; and no doubt, had the war continued, would have conducted themselves as valiantly as any troops that had been brought into the field. The troops of the foreign legion consisted of 8,552 Germans, 3,013 Swiss, and 3,535 Italians—making together 15,100 men, and the cost of maintaining them was about £1,100 a day. The Swiss and Italian legions, he hoped, would, in the course of a very few weeks, be disembodied. With respect to the German legion, it appeared that a large portion of them were desirous of being transferred to the Cape of Good Hope. Her Majesty's Government thought that such a course was highly desirable, as those Germans were of the same character as the original settlers in that colony. Arrangements would, he hoped, shortly be made to carry out the object of their wishes by making the proposed transfer.