ARMY—RECRUITS—NUMBERS AND QUALITY.—MOTION FOR RETURNS. (Hansard, 10 March 1873)

§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE
hoped the noble Duke would not press for the Return. Though not impossible, it would be difficult to procure it, and great delay and research would be requisite. He understood it to refer to each regiment?

§ THE DUKE OF RICHMOND
said, it was so.

§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE
said, it had been suggested that if the noble Duke wanted information it might be procured from the London recruiting district, which supplied recruits indiscriminately to all regiments, except those on foreign service, and which would, therefore, give a fair idea of recruits generally.

§ THE DUKE OF RICHMOND
remarked that the Inspector General of Recruiting issued a Report, in which he necessarily gave figures and facts en masse, drawing his own conclusions from the statements before him. He was himself anxious to draw his own conclusions from the same materials, for he believed that the class of recruits obtained of late was not satisfactory. He did not want to include regiments on foreign service, and the orderly book of every regiment would supply the Return in a very short time. The information must be in the possession of the Recruiting Department. The London district Returns would not give a true notion of recruiting throughout the kingdom. He would almost venture to appeal to the illustrious Duke the Commander-in-Chief whether the Return was one difficult to obtain, and whether there was any objection in a military point of view to the information being laid before the House?

§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE
said, he would offer no further objection after what the noble Duke had said; but he must warn him that the Return, though limited to regiments on home service, would be voluminous, and that some little time might elapse before it was furnished.