§ THE EARL OF DARTMOUTHMy Lords, I beg to ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in view of the number of Volunteer rifle ranges closed as unsafe during the gradual issue of the Lee-Metford rifle, some pecuniary assistance should not be given to enable those corps whose ranges have been compulsorily closed to obtain others. I do not think I need apologise for having brought this question forward. It is a very serious one, for the recent Return issued shows that 325 ranges belonging to the Volunteers have been closed. The corps to which I have belonged for upwards of thirty years had a very convenient range in the neighbourhood of Birmingham, on which a good deal of 978 money had been spent. It was used for company prize meetings, battalion prize meetings, and inter-company prize meetings; but unfortunately an accident happened, and as the result of the inquiry which followed the range was declared unsafe, and closed. All the money that had been spent upon it has been thrown away, and with great difficulty the corps has been able to find another range, upon which has been incurred a fresh outlay of £1,000. It seems hard that a battalion should be once again called upon to spend so large a sum. The new range is not so convenient as the old one, and the companies have considerable difficulty and incur great expense in getting to it. I had intended pointing to the result which would inevitably follow upon any interference with the opportunities of practising with the rifle, but I see that on Saturday last a sergeant of this corps broke the record by making the highest possible score at 200, 500, and 600 yards. But although there may be brilliant exceptions, the result must be very detrimental to the efficiency of the Volunteers and the management of the weapon put into their hands, and I think it is a case in which the officers of Volunteer corps can very properly claim the assistance of the Government. I am perfectly aware that applications could be made under certain conditions for a loan repayable over a term of year, but this also is a charge upon the battalion which it can ill afford to bear. I think it will be generally admitted that Volunteer officers as a body are not wealthy men, and it is creditable to them that they spend so much time and money in order to make themselves and the corps with which they serve efficient. The Volunteers as a force have had a checkered career. When the movement was first initiated they were fêted, flattered, and made a good deal of, but when the novelty had worn off they underwent a period when no ridicule was too great to hurl at them. They have been likened to that proverbial old maid who is always ready but never wanted, but I believe they have shown that they are ready and capable of doing all that is expected of them. They have survived those periods of ridicule, and I think the Volunteers themselves would be the first to recognise the fact that the conditions under which they serve now are in many 979 respects better than they were in former years. No one will deny that in efficiency, discipline, and soldierly qualities the Volunteer Force has gone far ahead of the most sanguine expectations of its originators. The noble Marquess, the Secretary of State for War, has probably considered what remedy should be proposed, but to my mind the only remedy consistent with justice is that, in the special circumstances of the case, the Government should make a special grant. I am aware that a Minister of War is not always able to cajole out of the unwilling pocket of the Chancellor of the Exchequer all he thinks he is entitled to, but if the noble Marquess can tell us that the authorities will in some way show their practical sympathy in this direction, I am sure it will tend to the encouragement of the Volunteer Force.
§ THE EARL OF WEMYSSBefore my noble friend answers the question which has been put to him by the noble Earl, I should like to say that the Volunteer Force is greatly indebted to him for having brought this matter forward. I do not propose to touch upon the general question of Volunteering, further than to say that Volunteers must have the means of shooting. It is in consequence of the increased range of the rifle, in the main, that these ranges have been shut up. My early educational life was spent in Switzerland, and I saw a great deal of rifle shooting there. In Switzerland ranges are placed close to towns, without, apparently, any dangerous result, and I suggest that the Swiss system of laying out ranges might with advantage be applied in this country. The Government have plenty of waste land at Aldershot where the Swiss method, by which trenches are dug and surrounded by baulks of timber to prevent the bullets going beyond a certain range, might be tried on a small scale.
§ * THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (The MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE)My Lords, the House must have listened with pleasure and interest to the excellent statement made by the noble Earl who brought this subject forward, and I certainly do not differ from him in the general conclusion to which he has arrived. There is no doubt that the closing of so large a number of ranges has placed the Volunteer Force at a very great dis 980 advantage, and it is our duty to give the matter our most serious consideration. I do not think it is quite fair to regard the, increased range of the .303 rifle as solely responsible for the present state of things. I am told that most of the ranges which were really safe for the Martini-Henry rifle are safe for the .303 rifle. Two new circumstances have contributed to the present result. One is the rapid spread of the population in many parts of the country, and the manner in which areas which not long ago were comparatively waste-places have been built over. In the second place, there is the greater strictness of inspection which now prevails. There is no doubt that in old days the inspection of the small local ranges was of an extremely easy character; a thorough overhauling has now taken place, with the result that, as my noble friend has said, no less than 323 Volunteer ranges have lately been condemned as unsafe with the new rifle. I wish to guard myself, at the outset, against admitting that Her Majesty's Government, or, indeed, I would almost say any Government, could undertake the enormous liability of providing every Volunteer corps throughout the country with a suitable range. On the other hand, we certainly recognise the duty of doing everything within reasonable limits to afford the Volunteer Forces opportunities of making themselves thoroughly efficient in musketry, and something has been done, and is, being done at the present time, in that direction. Under the Military Lands Act of 1892, a Volunteer corps is enabled to raise money for the purpose of purchasing land for ranges on the security of the land itself, and the capitation grant of the corps. We amended that Act two years ago, and Volunteer corps are now able to borrow, not only for the purpose of acquiring land, but also for the purpose of constructing the necessary works and buildings. That change in the law seems to have had a very good result, for while in the year before the amendment of the Act only four corps took advantage of the law and borrowed the sum of £8,400, last year no fewer than twenty-one corps came forward, and the total sum advanced was thus raised to no less than £129,000. Again, under the Military Works Loan Act of 1897, we took a sum, in round figures about half a million of money, for the purpose 981 of providing ranges. It is quite true that those ranges were primarily intended for the use of the Militia and regulars, but every effort is made to put them in places where they can be accessible to Volunteers also. The whole of that money has not yet been spent, for the obtainment of safe ranges in these days is a matter of enormous difficulty. You have, in the first place, to discover a suitable site, and then to come to terms with the owner—two operations which consume a considerable amount of time. Then, under the Military Works Loan Bill, which is now before Parliament, and which, I hope, will be before your Lordships in a few days, we take power to raise the sum of £40,000 for the purpose of assisting Volunteer corps in providing themselves with ranges. I have no doubt that that sum sounds a rather small one, but small as it is we hope to make it go a long way. What we propose to do is in districts where there is a deficiency of range accommodation, and where we find that the local corps are ready to combine for the purpose of procuring a range, to assist the corps by a grant from this fund—a grant which, perhaps, may not be a very large one, but which will certainly alleviate that burden of which my noble friend spoke so feelingly just now. We also propose to bring in this year new regulations dealing with the travelling expenses for Volunteers, to which we may also look for a palliative for the evil of insufficient range accommodation. The new regulations will be more advantageous to the force, and will work more fairly as between corps and corps than the present regulations have worked. The principal points of the new regulations are that the minimum distance in respect of which the travelling allowance will be granted will be reduced from five to two miles. The distance will be calculated from the sectional as well as the company headquarters, and, finally, the maximum grant will be raised from 4s. to 6s. per head. These are all concessions which I believe the Volunteer force will appreciate, and which will enable Volunteers to avail themselves more readily of the range accommodation at present existing. There is no use in concealing the fact that the difficulty of obtaining ranges has increased of late, and we must therefore look for the remedy of the evil complained of to a smaller number of perfectly safe ranges, 982 and to giving facilities to Volunteers to obtain access to them. The noble Earl on the Cross Benches suggested that we should inquire into a system of ranges which he tells us was prevalent in Switzerland, and under which, I understood him to say, the range was confined within a sort of tunnel constructed of timber baulks. I certainly would receive any helpful suggestion with the utmost respect, and I promise the noble Earl to make inquiries as to the system to which he has referred. I confess, at first sight, the suggestion rather alarms me, because, although our Volunteers shoot excellently, they are not all marksmen, and it strikes me as conceivable that an occasional bullet might find its way outside the limits of the noble Earl's tunnel. I certainly should not like to inhabit the neighbourhood of a butt protected in the way he suggests. I hope I have said enough to convince my noble friend that the matter to which he has called attention is not regarded with disfavour by the War Office. The noble Earl referred to the vicissitudes of the Volunteer Force, and spoke of the "epoch of ridicule" through which the Volunteer movement had passed. The noble Earl is not alone in thinking that that epoch, if ever it existed, has been left very far behind indeed, and I am sure those who had the good fortune, as I had myself, to see the magnificent march past of the Volunteers before the Prince of Wales on Saturday week must have been highly impressed with the efficiency and the national value of this branch of the Service.
§ EARL SPENCERAs I had the honour of asking the noble Marquess the Secretary of State for War some two years ago a question in almost the same terms as that which has been so ably put before the House to-night, I should like to have the opportunity of saying one or two words upon the subject. No one wishes to protect the public against the dangers of rifle ranges more than I do, but I cannot help thinking that the inspectors of these ranges may be carrying their care for the public too far. The noble Marquess has said that a range which was safe for the Martini-Henry rifle was fairly safe for the new rifle; and if that is so, why is it that such an enormous number of ranges have been closed since the introduction of the 983 new rifle? Were there many accidents? I scarcely remember any. I was exceedingly glad to hear what the noble Marquess said with regard to the proposal to assist Volunteers in finding ranges. I quite admit that it is impossible for the noble Marquess or the War Office to find ranges for every corps which is without one, but they may go a long way to render assistance. I venture to say that the difficulty in regard to rifle ranges for Volunteers is not to be met by increasing the travelling allowances to the force. The essence of success in regard to the rifle shooting of the Volunteers lies in the ranges being close to headquarters, so as to enable the men to take up rifle shooting as a pastime. That can only be provided by increasing the number of ranges, and I therefore hope the noble Marquess will be liberal in his treatment of corps which desire to provide such accommodation for themselves.
§ * THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEI hope the noble Earl opposite (Earl Spencer) does not understand me to suggest that I am indifferent to the value of ranges being close to the headquarters of Volunteer regiments. Where such ranges cannot be found—and I am afraid there are many parts of England where such ranges will not be found—I think the remedy is to give every possible facility for travelling to a range which is perfectly safe and properly equipped. I gather that the noble Earl thought our inspection of ranges of late was rather too stiff. Whether that is so or not, I cannot say The noble Earl hinted that we might accept ranges which had been used for many years without any untoward result, and which possessed, so to speak, a clean bill of health. He must, however, remember that the conditions of these ranges are continually altering according to the amount of building in their neighbourhood. Speaking as Secretary of State, I should be sorry to take upon myself the responsibility of overruling an inspector upon the ground that his inspection had been a little too extreme. If, after overruling an inspector, a serious accident occurred, I think the Secretary of State would be likely to hear about it.
§ THE EARL OF DARTMOUTHI desire to thank the noble Marquess the Secretary of State for War for the sympathetic reply he has given to my ques- 984 tion, and I am sure the increased travelling grants which the noble Marquess has suggested will be of great value to Volunteers. My experience differs from that of the noble Marquess with regard to the relative safety of the Martini-Henry and the Lee-Metford rifles. The range to which I have referred was used for a great many years without known danger, but soon after the introduction of the Lee-Metford rifle a worthy citizen was unfortunately struck by a spent bullet.