§ MR. HEDDERWICK (Wick Burghs)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether his attention has been called to a recent statement attributed to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister of Canada, to the effect that several months ago Canada offered to furnish this country with a second contingent of troops, and that Her Majesty's Government declined the offer, and in declining it informed the Canadian authorities that should they require more Canadian troops they would want infantry and not cavalry; and whether this statement accurately or substantially represents what occurred; and, if so, upon what grounds the Government founded their reply to the Canadian offer.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURHer Majesty's Government declined the offer of a second Canadian contingent under present circumstances on November 6th last. In doing so no such statement as the hon. Member suggests was made. At an earlier date—namely, October 2nd—as fully explained by my hon. friend the Under Secretary for War last night, the War Office expressed a preference for colonial infantry as compared with colonial cavalry.