§ MR. CONYBEARE(for Mr. CUNNINGHAME GRAHAM) (Lanark, N.W.)asked the Secretary of State for War, If he would produce a copy of the Regimental Orders of each regiment and battalion at Aldershot on the evening previous to the review; and, if not, if he would state the hour at which the different battalions were ordered to fall in on the private parade grounds; and, if all the regiments had water bottles, and all the battalions water carts, or only some of them?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. E. STANHOPE) (Lincolnshire, Horncastle)I cannot undertake to produce the Regimental Orders asked for, as I do not think it would be in the interests of discipline. The manner in which reviews at Aldershot are conducted, and the arrangements about water-carts, water-bottles, and other details, are matters which are left—and I think very properly left—to the Military Authorities on the spot. Until I see reason to believe that they failed in the exercise of the power thus entrusted to them, I do not propose to institute what is practically an inquiry into the manner in which they perform their duty. The House generally may be glad to learn that, as I am informed, not a single man fell out during the march past at Aldershot.