§ SIR HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War if there is a record that in a brigade of Volunteers encamped in 1900 on Salisbury Plain 90 per cent, went home in consequence of three days' rain; and, if so, will he state the name of the brigadier, and what regiments constituted the brigade, and who were their respective commanding officers and adjutants, and further by what means, being then under military law, such Volunteers were able to leave the camp.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. ARNOLD-FORSTER, Belfast, W.)I can find no trace in any official record of any such incident as that referred to in the Question. If it occurred | it is not creditable to the brigade concerned. I may perhaps add that un-willingness to face hardship or to incur discomfort is certainly not characteristic of the Volunteer Force—a fact to which I can bear personal testimony, and which I believe all those who have been officially connected with the training of Volunteers will readily confirm.