§ COLONEL SIR H. VINCENTI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War if he could state in respect of how many horses the retaining fee for military purposes was paid during the past financial year, and what was the total expenditure on this head; and if the Secretary of State will consider if the recipients of this bonus could be bound to let the horses in respect of which it is paid at reasonable rates for the training of Militia and Volunteer Field Artillery, of Yeomanry, and of Light Horse or Mounted Infantry for not exceeding one week at a time or a limited number of days per annum?
§ MR. BRODRICKThe number of horses registered annually since 1889 has been 14,000, at a fee of 10s. a horse. The proposal contained in the latter portion of the Question is altogether foreign to a national emergency for which object the registration of horses was designed, and I fear it would be found impracticable in working.