§ MR. CAINE (Barrow-in-Furness)asked the Secretary of State for War, If his attention has been called to a statement in The Liverpool Daily Post of the 8th instant, to the effect that a Submarine Mining Company, formed in connection with the 1st Lancashire Engineer Volunteers, is to be disbanded; and, if the statement be true, what steps can be taken to prevent the loss to the country of a body of highly skilled and efficient Volunteers upon which upwards of £2,000 has already been spent?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. E. STANHOPE) (Lincolnshire, Horncastle)In the opinion of His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, it was of importance, for the unity of defence for the Mersey, that all the submarine miners of the locality should belong to the Mersey Division of the Royal Engineers' Submarine Miners. The colonel of the battalion having declined to assent to the transfer of the non-commissioned officers and men of the Submarine Mining Company to that corps, the only remaining course in the interests of military efficiency was to disband and re-constitute it. I am glad, however, to say that it is anticipated that all, or nearly all, of the members of the disbanded Company will take service in the new corps, so that the expenditure and pains taken in their training will not be lost.