Lords Sitting of 26 November 1867

CONVEYANCE OF TROOPS—THE WAR OFFICE AND THE INDIA OFFICE.—QUESTION.
THE EARL OF AIRLIEput a Question to the Under Secretary for War as to the accuracy of a statement which had appeared in the newspapers with reference to the manner in which certain troops had been landed in this country. It was stated that the steam transport Crocodile had arrived off Plymouth with the second battalion of the Rifle Brigade on their return from the Mediterranean, and that although the ultimate destination of the troops was Plymouth, the Admiralty, for some unknown reasons, would not permit them to land there; and the consequence was that the Crocodile went on to Portsmouth, and the troops having disembarked there were sent by special train to Plymouth at a cost, the newspapers reported,

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of several hundred, and perhaps of £1,000. The same paragraph stated that an Hussar regiment which had been ordered from Exeter to Alexandria, instead of being embarked at Plymouth, was sent to Portsmouth and there put on board a transport. If this were true it showed a want of concert between the two Departments, which, if continued, would materially add to the cost of our military movements, and might augment the expenses attending the Abyssinian Expedition, which would be costly enough without unnecessary expenditure such as this.
THE EARL OF LONGFORDsaid, that both cases had been correctly stated by the noble Earl. The new transport service of Indian reliefs viâ Egypt was in the hands of the Government of India, and the officers who conducted the transport service under its direction had up to this time acted contrary to the remonstrances of the War Office, and insisted that Portsmouth should be the only port of communication with India as regards the transport of troops. Representations had been made by the War Department to the Government of India, but they had hitherto failed to convince the Indian Government of the expediency of altering their course. Communications on the subject were, however, still being carried on.
House adjourned at a quarter past Five o'clock, to Thursday next, a quarter before Five o'clock.