§ MR. HANBURY (Preston)asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether it 34 is the fact, as stated in a recent communication from the War Office, that the 5th Lancashire are as well supplied with suitable guns as the other Artillery Volunteers; and, whether, out of their nine guns at Fleetwood, where as many as nine batteries practise, four are obsolete 32-pounder smooth-bore guns, the others being 64-poundor R.M.L. and 40-pouuder R.B.L. guns; and, if so, what is the proportion of 32-pounder smooth-bore guns in the hands of the Artillery Volunteers generally?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. E. STANHOPE) (Lincolnshire, Horncastle)Yes, Sir. It is the fact that the 5th. Lancashire Artillery Volunteers are as well supplied with suitable guns as the Artillery Volunteers generally. Of the nine guns at Flftotwood—where, however, seven and not nine batteries practice—three are 64-pouuder rifled muzzle-loaders, two 40-pounder rifled breech-loaders, and four smooth bore 32-pounders. The proportion borne by the 32-pounder smooth bore guns to the rifled guns in the hands of Volunteers generally is about as 2 to 1; but issues now in progress will shortly reduce the proportion into about 1.5 to 1.