§ GENERAL SIR WILLIAM CROSSMAN (Portsmouth)asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether it is the case, as stated in a newspaper called The Canadian Gazette, that—
Colonel Goldie, Quarter Master General at Halifax, has been instructed to purchase this year, for the Imperial Authorities, no less than 500 horses, in the various Provinces of the Dominion, and that, in each subsequent year, further purchases will be made;And, if so, whether it is because a sufficient number of horses suitable for Army purposes cannot be obtained in the United Kingdom?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. E. STANHOPE) (Lincolnshire, Horncastle)Orders have been given for the purchase of some horses in Canada, with the object of developing within Her Majesty's Dominions markets on which it would be possible, in case of mobilization, to draw for at least a portion of the large supply of horses required; but the War Office has every desire to encourage, in every possible way, the supply by home breeders of horses of the stamp required for the Army.