§ THE EARL OF WEMYSSasked the Under Secretary of State for War, Why no field artillery had been sent with the Tokar relieving force. He said, he did so because he had heard there existed a difference of opinion on the subject among the military authorities. He had been taken severely to task by his noble Friend the Leader of the Government for putting the Question without Notice. He had had as long a Parliamentary, although not so long an official, experience as his noble Friend; and he knew that it was in "another place" the frequent practice to ask Questions without Notice or on the shortest Notice, and that practice was a sound one, for it was sometimes impossible to give Notice. During the last few hours they had heard of the loss of Tokar; but he would make no comments upon that. He had been much struck by the information which had been given by the Correspondent of The Times. It would appear that if there had been any field artillery the enemy might have been dispersed.
THE EARL OF MORLEY, in reply, said, the question of the best kind of artillery to send with this expedition had been carefully discussed, and it was agreed that the best thing to do was to send nine or ten light French camel guns. General Gordon was strong in 1713 deprecating the use of field guns, and his opinion on this point was concurred in by Lord Wolseley, who had more experience than the noble Earl on the Cross Benches, or even the Correspondent of The Times. It was considered that the use of field artillery was inexpedient for many reasons. It was desirable to minimize the water supply as far as possible, and camels required much less than the horses which they would have had to employ if they had taken heavy guns. The guns employed were French bronze guns, and carried a projectile of about 8½ lbs. weight. They were, of course, not so powerful as field artillery; but they were, in the opinion of the Adjutant General, better suited for the purpose than field artillery would be. He was not aware that any difference of opinion existed among the military authorities as regarded the manner in which the expedition to Tokar should be armed.
§ EARL GRANVILLEsaid, with reference to the appeal made to him by the noble Earl, he could not admit that certain Questions could legitimately be put without Notice. Noble Lords studied the papers, and founded Questions on what they saw there. Indeed, some appeared to study the papers for that very purpose. What public advantage could there be to call on his noble Friend in three minutes to give an answer to an important Question like this? If it meant anything, it meant criticism of the War Authorities. It was not fair to his noble Friend that he should be called on to answer at once.