§ LIEUTENANT-COLONEL PRYCE-JONES (Montgomery Boroughs)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether the huts at Bulford Camp have been ordered to be ready by 1st November to hold the Militia at present under canvas there, and whether it is intended to keep them under canvas until then, bearing in mind that the weather is severe on Salisbury Plain; and whether, seeing that these huts cannot possibly be finished by the contractor, although he is receiving the assistance of the Engineer Militia, by 1st November, it is intended to keep the Militia under canvas during the winter until they are ready; and if not, whore it is proposed to accommodate them; and, as more huts are still to be built by the winter, can he state where it is proposed to accommodate the troops until they are ready, also whether the huts in course of erection at Bulford Camp will be solidly built on proper foundations, and what provision will be made for hospital accommodation at Bulford Camp.
§ *MR. WYNDHAMThe huts in course of erection at Bulford are for the field artillery, and will, it is hoped, be completed by 30th September. The question of huts for the Militia is a complicated one, into which I am not prepared to go in any detail. But I can assure the hon. Member that it is not the intention of the Government to keep the Militia in tents after the camping season is over, nor to house them in insufficient or insanitary buildings.
MR, ARTHUR O'CONNOR (Donegal, E.)Is it within the knowledge of the War Office that there is any ground for the allegation that these huts cannot possibly be finished by the contractor by 1st November?
§ *MR. WYNDHAMThe first half of the huts will be completed long before, but I cannot undertake to say whether the second half will be. As I have said, the question is a complicated one and depends on the movements of the Regular forces as well as of the Militia, but the Government have taken such steps as will prevent any inconvenience arising from overlapping.