§ * GENERAL LAURIEI beg to ask the Secretary of State foe War whether he can state the ages of the recruits enrolled during the time the three years colour service was in operation; and whether it has been found that in a larger percentage of cases the young soldiers under twenty years of age become more-effective in the Mediterranean and other colonial garrisons than in stations in the United Kingdom.
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERWith regard to the first part of the Question my hon. and gallant friend will find the statistics he requires on page 60 of the General Annual Report for 1905. With regard to the second part of the Question "the variation of statistics renders comparison difficult, but there is no reason to suppose that the young soldiers become more effective in stations abroad than in the United Kingdom.