§ MR. SEALE-HAYNE (Devon, Ashburton)asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether, having regard to the waste of time involved in practising obsolete movements of battalion drill by regiments of Militia during their training, and to the absence of any systematic instruction of Officers and Non-commissioned Officers of that force with a view to its efficiency for defensive purposes, and to the fact that out of the ninety Militia Battalions exercised in musketry last year, seventy-one are classified as only "moderate" or "bad," 1460 he will take into consideration, before the next period of training, the advisability of establishing an improved course of instruction for Militia regiments?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster)The subject of musketry instruction in the Militia has already been taken into consideration with a view to increasing the efficiency of the Force, and one of the points to which attention has been directed is that of devoting more time, if possible, to musketry instruction.