§ Mr. NEWMANasked the Under-secretary of State for War whether he can state the reasons that led the War Office to entrust solely to the City and County of London Territorial Force Association the selection of representative cadets to attend the Canadian Exhibition; and whether he is aware of the disappointment which this decision has caused to other Territorial associations and notably to Middlesex, which has already recognised over 3,000 cadets and is excluded from representation?
§ Mr. MILLSasked why the Territorial Force Association of the county of Middlesex has not been permitted to nominate cadets to proceed to Canada, in response to the invitation of the Governor-General conveyed to them by the Army Council in order that they should take part in the Canadian Exhibition in the coming autumn?
§ Mr. NIELDasked the Under-Secretary of State for War why, if it was the intention of the Army Council to permit the selection of representative cadets who are to proceed to Canada in response to the invitation of the Governor-General to be made by one association, it was necessary to circularise all the Territorial associations and invite them to send in nominations; and whether he will in future take steps to avoid the friction and annoyance 1929 which these methods occasion to a branch of the service which the Secretary of State has made such efforts to popularise?
§ Mr. NIELDalso asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that, while the Middlesex Territorial Force Association is only required to raise and furnish an effective strength of 4,000 men, they have already recognised upwards of 3,000 cadets, being upwards of 75 per cent, of their regulation strength; that the City and County of London Territorial Force Association, being required to raise and furnish an effective strength of 37,000 Territorials, have only between them collected 3,400 cadets, or 10 per cent, of their regulation strength; and why, having regard to these circumstances, the latter associations have been selected to nominate the whole of the representative cadets who are to proceed to Canada, to the exclusion of the association of the county of Middlesex and the other counties adjacent to the county of London?
§ Mr. GULLANDThe Territorial Force Associations were informed on 2nd January that an invitation had been received from the Governor-General of Canada inviting a team of fourteen cadets to proceed to Canada from England. They were informed in that letter that if more applications were received than vacancies existed the final selection would rest with the Army Council. There was no means of ascertaining whether Associations would be willing to send representatives other than by means of a circular letter. Twenty-five Associations in England and Wales were anxious to send representatives. In accordance with the intimation conveyed in the circular letter, the Army Council selected the City and County of London Territorial Force as being the most concentrated. Since the original selection of this Association on 9th April, the Middlesex Association has been informed that one cadet per company of the corps administered by that Association will be allowed to compete with the cadets of the City and County of London Association for places in the team under the conditions formulated by the latter Association. According to the latest returns, the cadets administered by the City and County of London Association number 3,959, and twelve battalions recently recognised are not included therein.
§ Mr. NEWMANWill these cadets be allowed to compete against the County of London ones?
§ Mr. GULLANDAs a team; not individually.
§ Mr. NEWMANWill they go out as a team to replace the County of London Cadets?
§ Mr. GULLANDI cannot say exactly. One cadet per company will be allowed to compete.
Mr. PEELWhy should these privileges be confined to Middlesex, and why are the other associations that sent in notices not allowed to share?
§ Mr. GULLANDI am sorry that I have not information on the subject, or I should reply.