§ SIR J. COLOMB (Tower Hamlets, Bow, &c.)I beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether his attention has been called to a paragraph in the Report of Lord Hartington's Commission to the following effect, namely—
There does not appear to exist sufficient provision by either Service for the wants of the other; little or no attempt has ever been made to establish settled and regular intercommunication or relations between the Services; no combined plan of operations for the defence of the Empire in any given contingency has ever been worked out or decided upon";and to the statement of Mr. R. H. Knox, Accountant General of the Army, to Lord Wantage's Committee in December last, namely—The provision of expeditionary battalions to be sent abroad in the case of a small war was a point that was not worked out by Lord Cardwell's Committee, and no plan that I know of has been worked out by any Committee or by the War Office with a view of meeting that emergency";and whether the facts are as stated; and, if so, whether the War Office has taken any steps since last December to organise the Army to discharge those duties which either a great or small war would render necessary?
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY, WAR OFFICE (Mr. BRODRICK,) Surrey, GuildfordIt has been arranged that, as soon as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War is able to be in his place, there shall be a discussion on the subject involved in the Report of the Committee over which Lord Wantage presided. Those subjects include, to a great extent, the points raised in my hon. and gallant Friend's question; and I think it will be best if he would raise them in the course of the discussion.