§ MR. HOLLAND (Yorkshire, W.R., Rotherham)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that an offer was made to the War Office by a private individual in July, 1897, to provide the School and City of Winchester with a suitable rifle range free of all cost, and that the War Office thought so well of the scheme that they expressed their desire to take it over themselves; and whether he can explain why, after a delay of three and a half years, an intimation has been sent from the War Office that nothing is intended to be done, with the result that rifle shooting in the neighbourhood has been killed, and persons elsewhere discouraged from making similar offers in their respective localities.
LORD STANLEYThe head master of Winchester School made a suggestion in 1897 that be should erect a range without any expense to the public, but subsequently, in the course of negotiation, proposed to contribute handsomely to a range to be laid out by the War Department. The estimated cost was found to be £20,000 for 500 acres; Dr. Fearon's proposed contribution was found to be £500. The War Department, none the less, endeavoured to carry through the matter, but found—after long negotiation—that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners required £15,500 for 170 acres. As the range would have cost double the sum estimated, and other ranges had been provided for the troops in the neighbourhood, the Secretary of State did not feel justified in pursuing the matter further at so great a cost for the use of the school.
§ MR. T. M. HEALY (Louth, N.)How many Irish schools are provided with rifle ranges?
§ [No answer was returned.]