§ SIR HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)I beg to ask the Under Secre- 874 tary of State for War whether, in order to meet the wishes of the Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief in South Africa that nothing should be left undone to ensure the safe arrival in the hands of the troops of gifts sent to them from home, the Secretary of State for War has despatched Mr. Hamilton Gatliff to Capo Town, as a commissioner to assist in receiving and forwarding parcels for regiments and soldiers; and if the latest advices show that he has been successful therein, and that the delays previously complained of were mainly due to the exigency of the requirements of the Army in the matter of stores.
§ * MR. WYNDHAMMr. Hamilton Gatliff, who volunteered his services, was despatched to South Africa, with the approval of the Secretary of State, early in December. The reply to the second question is in the affirmative. I may add, in order to illustrate the difficulties with which Mr. Hamilton Gatliff has to contend, that in a letter written on 1st April, he states that he is receiving at times as much as 400 tons a day for distribution.