§ MR. SEAGER HUNT (Marylebone, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is prepared to inquire into the amounts allowed to the owners of licensed premises for the board and lodging of soldiers billeted upon them, and for foraging horses, with a view to ascertaining whether it is possible for a licensed victualler to comply with the Act without incurring a loss?
§ MR. E. STANHOPEI answered a similar question two years ago, and pointed out that the sum paid to an innkeeper for a soldier's billet was fixed in 1873, after a very full inquiry by Lord Cardwell, since which time the price of provisions has fallen by more than 30 per cent. As regards horses, they are 478 provided in billets with exactly the same rations as the Government provide for them in barracks. The innkeeper receives considerably more than the average contract price of the forage rations. I do not therefore think that any further inquiry is at present necessary. Only one complaint has been received recently, and that was from an innkeeper who has protested against being struck off the list of billets.