§ MR. DUDLEY FORTESCUEsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for War, When the Proceedings of the Court Martial on Colonel Crawley will be laid upon the table of the House?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONsaid, in reply, that the papers would be laid on the table that evening, and would be ready for distribution on Saturday morning.
§ MR. DUDLEY FORTESCUEtrusted that, under these circumstances, the noble 1368 Lord the Member for the East Riding (Lord Hotham) would postpone the discussion of which he had given notice until the papers were in the hands of Members.
§ LORD HOTHAMsaid, he had not the slightest wish to interfere with the Motion of which the hon. Member for Andover had given notice for the 15th instant, but he considered that the Vote for the administration of Martial Law was the legitimate and proper opportunity for the observations which he proposed to make on the course adopted in the case of Colonel Crawley, and its effect on the discipline and good order of the army. Looking to the manner in which the Government were dealing with the Navy Estimates, and the notice given by the noble Lord in regard to the Army Estimates, which he must regard as somewhat unusual, he had come to the conclusion that the object of the Government was to get the two great Votes for the army with reference to the Mutiny Act, and the Financial statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the same manner. Seeing, therefore, that there was little probability of getting the remainder of the Navy Estimates and the whole of the Army Estimates before the holydays, he was ready, if the hon. Member for Andover could arrange with those around him to postpone the Vote for the administration of Martial Law until after the hon. Member's Motion, to defer to the hon. Gentleman's wish. He, however, could not forego the legitimate and proper opportunity afforded by the Vote for the administration of Martial Law to submit the observations which he wished to make on the court-martial.
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONsaid, he did not think the Government could promise to defer Vote No. 6 until after the Motion respecting Colonel Crawley's Court Martial, but he would promise that the discussion on Vote No, 6 would not be taken until the proceedings of the court-martial were in the hands of hon. Members.
COLONEL NORTHsaid, he wished to know whether there would be any objection to give the House an opportunity of inspecting the models of the bungalows, &c., without which it would be difficult, if not impossible, for hon. Members to understand the evidence given before the court-martial.
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONsaid, there would be an objection to removing the models which were produced 1369 before the court-martial from the custody of the Judge Advocate General, inasmuch as they were the record of the proceedings of the Court. Accurate plans and drawings had, however, been made from these models, and the House after seeing them would be as well able to form an opinion as if they had the models.