SIR HOWARD VINCENTI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if the Committee of Imperial Defence has been able yet to arrive at a definite calculation of the numbers of the land forces necessary for the protection of the Great Britain 1479 and Ireland against the possibility of invasion, and of the numbers it is necessay to have available at home for the strengthening of the land forces in India, Canada, Australasia, South Africa, or elsewhere in the Empire in a time of stress; and if there is any objection to stating what these numbers are before the House is asked to sanction the proposals of the Secretary of State for War for the reduction of the Regular and Auxiliary Forces.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURIt seems to me that the problem put by my hon. friend is not really capable of definite numerical solution. The number of troops required to defend our shores must evidently depend, and depends very largely, upon the character of those troops.