§ *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (The Marquess OF LANSDOWNE) moved the Second reading of the Bill. He said it had been prepared to enable the 76 War department to give facilities to the troops for the exercise of military manœuvres under conditions resembling, as far as possible, the conditions of actual warfare, without having to resort to special legislation for the purpose. Hitherto, whenever the War Department desired to hold military manœuvres, it had been necessary to obtain the necessary funds from the Treasury—not always a very easy task—and also a special Statute at the hands of Parliament. The difficulty of making sure of such a double event was obvious, and the result had been that since 1875 there had been no manœuvres upon a really considerable scale. The necessity of these military exercises was admitted by all, whether soldiers or civilians, who paid any attention to military matters. Some of them could remember the time when our troops and the troops of foreign countries were armed with weapons which were not very dangerous beyond a range of 100 yards or thereabouts; when battles were fought in close order; and when the necessary drill could probably be acquired without much difficulty within the confines of a barrack yard. But we were now arming our troops with weapons of great range and accuracy, and the formation adopted in the battle-field had become extremely extended, with the result that unless the troops were trained in large areas, and in the open country, they could not acquire the discipline and experience which would be expected of them when they came to be employed in the field. Their Lordships would admit that in a matter of this kind we might have some regard to what prevailed in foreign countries. He was informed that in all the more important Continental nations the whole of the regular army and a considerable part of the reserve were annually trained by means of manœuvres upon an extended scale. There were grand manœuvres, lasting from ten to 30 days; divisional manœuvres, lasting perhaps a fortnight; brigade manœuvres, and so on; and surely we should be culpable if we contemplated opposing to troops trained in this manner British troops to whom such training had been denied. There was one exception, of course, in regard to our own Army, and that was the exception of India, where, owing to the great extent of country available, it 77 was possible without difficulty to train troops in the manner which he had indicated. His noble and gallant friend Lord Roberts had often insisted to him upon the enormous advantage which the Army in India had acquired owing to training of this description, and the great corresponding disadvantage which the Army at home was under from the fact that no such opportunities, or, at any rate, very rare opportunities, of the kind were placed within its reach. For these reasons they thought it necessary to take standing powers to hold military exercises on a large scale, but they did so recognising that in this country it was most necessary that such powers should not be availed of without the amplest precaution to guard owners and occupiers of the land which the troops might traverse, from any injury to which the passage of the troops might expose them. In this country, as they all knew, very large areas were enclosed, and when they got beyond the enclosures they came into contact with two classes of the community, both of whom were naturally very tenacious of their rights—he meant the commoners and the preservers of game. This Bill had been drawn with the object of holding the balance as fairly as possible between what he might call military considerations and the interests of the public. They desired to avoid the necessity for special legislation, but they felt that manœuvres of the kind which they contemplated should not be held without the sanction and authority of Parliament, and therefore they proposed that whenever it was desired to hold such manœuvres an Order in Council should be passed. That Order in Council would authorise the holding of manœuvres within special limits, and they proposed that six months before the date of the manœuvres the draft of the Order should be circulated to the councils of the counties, county boroughs, districts, and parishes lying wholly or partly within the area included in the scope of the Bill. They also proposed that three months beforehand it should be advertised in two local newspapers; and finally, that the Order in Council itself should be for 30 days upon the Table of both Houses of Parliament, and that an Address from both Houses should be carried before it could take effect. When once the Order 78 in Council had been made they proposed that there should be limits of time under which the total duration of the manœuvres should not exceed three months, and under which the same district should not be made use of for the purpose of holding manœuvres more than once in five years. They proposed that the troops should be altogether excluded from certain classes of land, such as farmyards, gardens, orchards, curtilages attached to any dwelling house, or any enclosed woods or plantations, and under no circumstances would the troops be allowed to have access to them. They proposed that the lands which should be made available should be specially authorised by a Commission which would be appointed under the Bill. The Commission would consist of two members appointed by the County Council of every county included within the specified limits, one member appointed by the council of any county borough within the area, and a certain number of local owners and occupiers who were to be selected by the Secretary of State. In order that the representatives named by the Secretary of State might not be in a position to out-vote the others, they proposed that they should under no circumstances be equally numerous with the elected representatives. He thought that would satisfy their Lordships that they did not desire, by securing the presence of too large a representation of the official element, to exercise a preponderating influence in the councils of the Commission. This Commission was to authorise the lands, roads, and sources of water of which the troops could make use, and it was also to make regulations for the protection of persons and property within those areas. There was a clause under which they provided compensation to persons who might sustain injury owing to the presence of the troops. They had drawn this clause in the most liberal spirit, and they provided that full compensation was to be made for any damage to person or property, or interference with rights or privileges, arising from putting in force any of the provisions of this Act, whether occasioned by the acts or default of the authorised forces, or by the presence of persons who might be attracted to the neighbourhood by the presence of the troops. The compensation officer 79 would be appointed by the Military Manœuvres Commission, and the regulations for the procedure in compensation cases would be framed by the Commission. If in any case there was a difficulty in coming to an agreement they provided for arbitration under the Arbitration Act of 1889. There was also a clause imposing moderate penalties for such offences as obstructing and interfering with the execution of the manœuvres, moving flags or other marks, or cutting telegraph wires. Those were the whole of the more important provisions of the Bill, and he had every hope that, in spite of the lateness of the period at which the Bill came before their Lordships, they would allow it to pass without serious modification.
§ THE EARL OF WEMYSSsaid that he had always been very anxious for full military efficiency in this country, and he was very anxious that this Bill should pass if it was necessary. But was it necessary? He had not yet been able to see the Bill. Manœuvres were no novelty in this country; they had been held in 1872 or 1873, and for three years we had held manœuvres in this country which he himself had attended. He had never heard, however, of any difficulty with respect to those manœuvres arising from any cantankerous proprietor or tenant, or that the military authorities had the slightest difficulty with regard to the ground that was required. He did not believe that at that time it was found necessary to have an Order in Council, as far as he could recollect; the reason why they were stopped was simply because the Secretary of State declined to pay £60,000 a year for the purpose. He asked whether there were any such powers in India as were asked for in this Bill.
§ * THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEsaid the noble Earl was under a slight misapprehension. In 1871, when manœuvres were held on Salisbury Plain, and again in 1882 when large manœuvres were held, Bills were passed enabling the troops to hold these exercises, and those Bills were much longer and more complicated than the present Measure. Since then, moreover, the difficulties had enormously increased. The circumstances in India were entirely different—there were large tracts of unoccupied country in which manœuvres 80 could be held without any difficulty. In the case of Germany and most other continental powers there were special measures in force.
§ THE EARL OF WEMYSSsaid if what the noble Marquess had said was correct, all that he himself had said fell to the ground.
§ Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House To-morrow.