§ LORD BRAYEMy Lords, I rise to ask the Secretary of State for War in reference to an Army Order dated 8th May, 1599, which sets forth, among other things, that in case 75 per cent. of a Militia battalion elects to serve abroad, the whole battalion will be considered liable to so serve; whether the remaining quarter of the battalion, in case it does not so consent, is liable nevertheless. I also desire to ask the noble Marquess the Secretary of State for War how many Militia battalions have up to the present time consented to serve abroad, and whether they consented unanimously, or with a minority of 25 per cent. refusing to so serve. The Army Order to which I refer has given rise to great perplexity among those interested in Militia matters, and any elucidation which the noble Marquess can find it convenient to give 293 will, I am sure, be hailed with great satisfaction.
§ * THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (The MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE)My Lords, I think the Army Order to which the noble Lord refers is that of the 10th of May. He has not quoted it quite accurately. What it says is that a Militia unit may be registered as available for special service if not less than 75 per cent. of the officers and men composing it offer to accept the liability. But there is no intention of enforcing the liability against any men, whether they amount to 25 per cent. or a lesser percentage, who do not voluntarily offer to accept it. This point was explained in the House of Commons by the representative of the War Office. It has not yet been found possible to register any Militia battalion as available for special service, the number of men volunteering having in no case come up to the 500 required by the Army Order. But, although no battalions have been registered as such, 3,213 infantry militiamen have engaged as individuals for special service with their line battalions, and would be available if those battalions were to be detailed for service. Of the Militia artillery eight corps have been registered, 75 per cent. of the men having volunteered in each case, and 250 men in each corps having been found to comply with the conditions laid down. These corps belong respectively to Sligo, Wicklow, Lancashire, Durham, Limerick City, Antrim, Yorkshire, and Edinburgh. Besides these, 490 Militia artillerymen have accepted the special service system liability as individuals, making in all 3,703 men of this arm. In our opinion the above facts are not sufficient to justify a conclusion as to the success of the experiment. The Army order was not issued till May 10th, when sonic corps had begun their training and others were assembling. These corps had, consequently, insufficient notice of the liability to seven days' extra training which is required of all men accepted for special service. In the circumstances it is not unsatisfactory that we should have made even a comparatively small beginning, and we hope that the numbers will be largely increased when the conditions offered are more generally understood.
§ LORD BRAYEThe point I desire to 294 have elucidated is whether, if 75 per cent. of the Militia battalion elect to serve abroad, the remaining 25 per cent. would be at liberty to retire from the battalion, or must they go abroad with the others.
§ * THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEI hope I have made it quite evident that there will be no compulsion on the 25 per cent. of the battalion to serve with their comrades who have accepted special service liability. The manner in which they might be disposed of is a question which will have to be considered when the occasion arises; but I would suggest that one way of doing it would be, in the case where there are two Militia battalions, to transfer the 25 per cent. temporarily to the other battalion.
§ LORD BRAYEI understand that, although the word "unanimous" is not used in the Army Order, a Militia battalion must consent unanimously to serve abroad before it can be sent: that is to say, if one single man in a battalion refuses so to serve, the whole battalion would be counted as having voted against serving abroad. What I want to know is whether the 75 per cent. mentioned in the Order is to be considered as equivalent to a unanimous consent.
§ * THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEIf the noble Lord will allow me to show him afterwards the Act of Parliament upon which these arrangements depend, as well as the Army Order which carries out the Act of Parliament, I think I shall be able to explain to him what I admit is an intricate matter, and one which I think at the present moment he does not quite understand.