§ LORD DAVIESMy Lords, I beg to ask the second question standing on the Paper in my name.
§ [The question was as follows:
§ To ask His Majesty's Government if they can give any indication of the numbers of patriot troops who were actively engaged in the Abyssinian campaign; how soon it is proposed to accept and implement the recently-repeated offer of the Emperor to furnish an Ethiopian force for service in the Allied cause; and whether this matter will shortly be the subject of a supplementary agreement.]
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DOMINION AFFAIRS (LORD CECIL) (Viscount Cranborne)My Lords, I am very glad to give the information which my noble friend asks for so far as it is available. The numbers of patriot troops actively engaged in the Ethiopian campaign varied very greatly and it is impossible to supply any definite figure for any given period of operations. Apart 888 from the irregular forces and guerillas, whose numbers cannot at present be estimated, four battalions of regular patriots were raised, of which one battalion and a part of another, in all perhaps 900 men, fought in the campaign. With regard to the second part of the noble Lord's question I can only inform him that His Majesty's Government have not received from the Emperor an offer to furnish an Ethiopian Force for service in the Allied cause.
§ LORD DAVIESMy Lords, arising out of that answer may I ask my noble friend whether he is aware that on two occasions speeches of the Emperor have been reported in the Press of this country in which he expressed his readiness to assist the Allies in the prosecution of the war?
§ LORD CECIL: My Lords, I am aware that there have been Press reports of statements such as the noble Lord mentions, but I can only repeat that no offer has been received by His Majesty's Government from the Emperor. I think the noble Lord will realize that the Emperor's armed Forces are still in the process of formation and training and are not yet equipped for modern warfare.