HC Deb 09 September 1886 vol 308 c1730
MR. SHIRLEY (Yorkshire, W.R., Doncaster)

asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether his attention has been called to an article in The Weekly Dispatch of Sept. 5th, in which it is stated that:— As a matter of fact, while the money disappears year after year with the utmost regularity, our Army and Navy remain to this day without a single efficient and serviceable gun between them; and, whether, so far as regards the Army, this statement is true, or approximately true?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE (MR. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster)

I am happy to say the statement is neither true, nor approximately true.