§ LORD HOTHAMsaid, that the noble Lord the Under Secretary of State for War has given notice of his intention to bring in the Army Estimates on Thursday. That notice was given in rather an unusual manner, and he (Lord Hotham) was led to ask, Whether it is intended to bring on the Army Estimates, and to go through with them in the ordinary manner, or whether it is proposed, as has been done on the Navy Estimates, to ask for those Votes on which the Mutiny Bill and the financial arrangements more especially depend, deferring the remaining Votes to a future period? 1337 If the latter is the intention of the noble Lord, he would beg to ask, which is to be the last Vote taken on Thursday?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON,in reply, said, he was not able to state what arrangements had been made as to the course of public business, but he believed, in consequence of the shortness of the time between this and Easter, it was desirable to obtain the Vote for men at as early a day as possible. The Government, therefore, intended to get the Vote for men on Thursday, or as soon after as they could; but he was not able to say at present whether they should ask the House to agree to any other Votes. Perhaps the noble Lord would allow him to explain, with reference to what he said was the unusual form of the Votes, that the form was exactly the same as the Votes were taken in last year. The late Sir George Lewis made an alteration in the form of the Estimates, and the first Vote or rather Resolution, last year, was exactly in the same terms as that of which he (the Marquess of Hartington) had given notice.
§ LORD HOTHAMsaid, he found no fault with the mode in which it was proposed to deal with the Vote, but with the uncertainty in which it was placed. He had better at once give notice that on Vote 6, for the administration of Martial Law, he should make some observations on the course adopted towards Colonel Crawley of the Inniskillen Dragoons.
§ LORD ROBERT CECILsaid, he wished to know what hour of the night would be the latest for bringing on the Army Estimates, as the noble Marquess appeared in a hurry to bring them on?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONsaid, it would be necessary to consult the convenience of the House, but the noble Lord at the head of the Government had suggested that they might be brought on at any hour before twelve o'clock.