The Remounts question was raised in the House of Lords
on Thursday by Lord Tweedmouth, who pressed for immediate further inquiries into the purchase of horses in other countries besides Hungary. Lord Rose. bery supported the demand for inquiry, declaring that not only in Hungary but all over the world the Govern- ment had been plundered by its agents. In support of this charge he read the affidavit of a head-waiter of the one inn at the place where the horses were bought, describing the lax and negligent control of the Commission. Lord Raglan opposed the demand for immediate inquiry on the ground that it would stop the flow of remounts, and so impair the efficiency of our army in South Africa ; and Lord Lans- downe, while accepting responsibility for the appointment of the Yeomanry Committee, denied the charge that the Govern- ment had snubbed the Colonies, or said that mounted men were not required. The middleman was a necessary evil ; but he admitted that the Remount Department must be placed on a better footing, and declared that the Government had no desire to burke inquiry or shield culprits. Alluding to Lord Rosebery's evidence, Lotd Lansdowne observed, amid laughter, that he had never heard anything more extra- ordinary in a Parliamentary debate than the affidavit of the German waiter. We trust this natural observation will not involve Count von Billow in any further difficulties with the Reichstag.
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