§ MR. RADCLIFFE COOKE (Newington, W.,)asked the Secretary of State for War, whether in a letter dated the 15th of February last, the 1st Worcestershire Artillery Volunteers were informed by the War Office, in reply to an application in that behalf, that H.R.H. the Commander in Chief had been pleased to approve of the issue, on payment, of part-worn Artillery harness to them for the batteries of position; whether on receipt of such communication, a requisition was forthwith made in due form to the Senior Ordnance Store Officer, western district, to which no reply was given; whether subsequently, viz., on the 8th of April last, a letter of reminder was sent to the same official, to which a reply was received on the 1st of May instant in the following words, "None in store at present, will be supplied as soon as available" Whether at the date of 1702 the first mentioned, namely the 15th of February last, there was, as would appear to be the case, part-worn Artillery harness in store available on payment for issue to Artillery Volunteers; if so, what has become of such harness in the meanwhile? And what was the reason of the delay in replying to the requisition, whereby the said 1st Worcestershire Artillery Volunteers are now left in the position of having to train 62 horses and 36 men without proper harness between now and their annual camp training in July next?
§ *MR. E. STANHOPEWhen the offer of part-worn harness was made to the Artillery Volunteers, it was on the understanding that part-worn harness should be available in sufficient quantity for the issue. At present this is not the case, as the store of such harness is purposely kept low; but new harness is in course of issue to the Second Army Corps, and as the harness which it replaces comes in it will be issued to the Volunteers. In the meantime the 1st Worcestershire Artillery Volunteers must act upon the original arrangement and hire farm or other harness for their training. The expense of thus hiring harness has been taken into account in fixing the annual grant of money for each battery. The delay in replying arose from the necessity of considering how the demands, which were in excess of the supply, could best be met.