§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether the communication sent homo from Lord Methuen, dated the 4th January, which covered a number of subordinate reports which Lord Roberts was asked on the 6th February to direct Lord Methuen to embody in a formal despatch, was seen by Lord Roberts, and whether Lord Roberts made any comment on this communication with reference to the operations at the battle of Magersfontein, and the tact, judgment, and administrative capacity of Lord Methuen in the disposition and handling of his troops; and whether the communication of Lord Methuen on the 4th January was designed by that officer to serve the purposes and fill the place of a formal despatch.
The HON. MEMBER added: I do not want the hon. Gentleman to answer the concluding clause. He replied to that fully yesterday, † and anything he says I accept entirely.
† See page 12 of this volume.
§ * MR. WYNDHAMThen there is little for me to add; but I may say that the communication referred to was forwarded by Sir R. Buller while still Commander-in-Chief in South Africa without comment. The despatch substituted for it was, as I have already explained, forwarded by Lord Roberts, also without comment. The difference between the two documents was one of form and not of substance. It may be assumed that Lord Roberts saw both.