§ MR. PIRIEI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, in view of the expansion of the duties of the Remount; Department, and of the intention in July, 1900, to move the office of that Department to Pall Mall, will he say why the Department is still lodged in Victoria Street, where it is sometimes obliged to wait for four days before being able to obtain War Office papers it may require; and can he explain, in view of these facts, why the Yeomanry Committee was lodged during the war in spacious rooms close to the War Office, and is now occupying more central offices than the Remount Department; and will he state why no administrative increase was made to the headquarters staff of that Department till May, 1900, more than six months after the outbreak of the war.
§ MR. BRODRICKThe War Office suffers great inconvenience from its work being carred on in a number of different buildings, and various branches, including the Intelligence Department, have with great difficulty and at considerable 607 expense been housed in buildings adjacent to Pall Mall. Repeated efforts were made to obtain more central accommodation for the Remount Department in buildings adjacent to the War Office, but the difficulties of procuring such accommodation on reasonable terms proved insuperable. The Yeomanry Committee had already secured rooms in Cleveland House before the War Office was in treaty for it. As regards the Remount Staff, no increases were asked for until March, 1900, when the Department was required to take over the provision of horses for the Imperial Yeomanry, and the demands by the Inspector General of Remounts for additional staff in London or in the districts, were in all cases acceded to.
§ MR. PIRIEHOW was it the Yeomanry Committee were able to procure rooms, while the Remount Department could not?
§ MR. BRODRICKBecause they were already in possession of that particular building.