§ MR. YERBURGH (Chester)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War if he can say how many men of the Regular Army in South Africa are under twenty-one years of age, and whether drafts have been sent there containing men under twenty years of age, and men who have not been through a musketry course.
§ MR. BRODRICKI am afraid that I cannot undertake to supply my hon. and gallant friend with the figures, as their compilation would entail considerable labour and time. Until August the age qualification for cavalry and infantry drafts was maintained, except in one or two cases, at twenty years. About the middle of that month, when it was considered that the hardest part of the campaign was over, it was reduced to nineteen and a half years. The orders given were that every one of the men sent out should have gone through the necessary instruction. Some men, however, who had not completed the course were sent out to be attached to Militia battalions on the lines of communication, with distinct instructions that they were not to be sent to the front until they had completed the course. I have given instructions that no further drafts shall be sent under these conditions.