§ SIR C. W. DILKE (Gloucester, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether the detachment of garrison artillery, shown by the distribution lists of the Royal Regiment of Artillery for June, 1894, to be the Sierra Leone detachment, and stationed at Devonport, is the detachment necessary for the defence of Sierra Leone in the event of war, and commonly known as the Sierra Leone emergency detachment; whether the intention is that that detachment, with or without a theoretic increase on mobilisation in the event of war, is afterwards to be despatched to Sierra Leone; whether the existing garrison on the spot consists only of the headquarters and two or three companies of a battalion of the West India Regiment, of a company of native sappers, and of a detachment of native gunners; and whether inquiry has ever been made into the possibility of increasing the coloured force, capable of supporting the climate, for the defence of this coaling station and anchorage, which have been officially declared to be necessary to the Navy for the security of the Cape route in time of war?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN,, &c.) StirlingIt is not usual to state publicly the detailed provision made for defence of coal stations, but I shall be glad to furnish privately to the right hon. Gentleman an answer to his inquiries.