§ LORD EUSTACE CECILasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether it is true that in consequence of the large number of time-expired men brought up for rioting and drunkenness before the magistrates at Portsmouth, and who are at present waiting to be sent home, the Commanding Officers of the Forts at which they are stationed have given notice that they will no longer advance money to pay fines, the result of which will be that the men will now invariably be sent to prison; and, if so, whether he will find some remedy for a state of things which, if allowed to go on, may have a serious effect in deterring men from re-enlisting, or joining the Reserve?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONSir, in consequence of the number of Reserve men arriving for discharge simultaneously with the Indian reliefs, 779 the Discharge Depôt at Portsmouth was unable to contain all the men, and many had to be quartered in other barracks. There has been, I am sorry to say, a good deal of drunkenness. I am informed that no notice has been given by officers commanding forts that they will no longer advance the money for paying fines. The contingency referred to in the latter part of the noble Lord's Question need not, therefore, be apprehended as an immediate result; but I am considering whether, before the next trooping season, some arrangement can be made for discharging the men more expeditiously.