§ MR. COXTo ask the Secretary to the Admiralty what is the annual contribution received from Newfoundland in respect of the maintenance of the Royal Naval Reserve in the Colony; and what is the annual cost of the maintenance of that branch.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) The arrangement is that the Colony of Newfoundland shall pay a sum of £3,000 annually towards the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve for a period of ten years from 1902, provided that the force shall consist of not less than 600 men. This annual payment is to be proportionately reduced for each man less than that number. The number of men. borne on the 1st April last was 591. The annual cost of the maintenance of this branch of the Reserve is, approximately, £18,400.