§ CAPTAIN NORTONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he can state whether one of the Australian colonies offered to furnish 100 transport wagons for use in the present war; whether that offer was accepted subject 369 to the wagons being sent to this country for inspection; and whether ho will consider the advisability of having them inspected in the colony, thus obviating the necessity of transporting these wagons many extra thousands of miles by sea, and causing moreover a delay of nearly two months as regards the date of their arrival at the Cape.
THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE WAR OFFICE (Mr. J. POWEL-WlLLIAMS,) BirminghamOffers to supply Army Service wagons have been received from Canada, New South Wales, and Victoria, but have not as yet been accepted. If wagons are obtained from these sources they will be used in this country to replace wagons sent to South Africa, and the inspection would naturally be in England, any difficulty in the case of Australia being met by the expedient of forwarding a sample wagon. In the case of Canada, local inspection may be possible.