§ EARL EGERTONMy Lords, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he will reconsider his decision not to appoint any chaplains to the Imperial Yeomanry; and whether he will, in the first instance, attach a chaplain to the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital of 500 beds, which has received the sanction of the War Office, and is being established at Capetown. I ask this question as an old Yeomanry officer of thirty years standing, and I may say that I have sent a contingent from my own estate in the Yeomanry Force which has just left these shores. I understand that the War Office handed over to a committee of Yeomanry officers the duty of raising and equipment of the Yeomanry force. That I believe they have done very successfully. In the very short space of a month they have turned out a force of 5,000 men, mounted or ready to be mounted, and I believe there are others of equal force ready as soon as the equipment is prepared for them. But when the Yeomanry Committee had offers from clergymen who were anxious to serve as chaplains in South Africa, and when they had submitted to them the names of two or three chaplains as fit and proper persons to act for the Yeomanry, the Adjutant General sent an unconditional refusal to allow any chaplains to go out. I understand, from a communication the War Office was good enough to send to me, that one of the reasons why they were not so appointed was that the Yeomanry are to be attached to different divisions or brigades and are to have the benefit of the chaplains of those divisions or brigades. That, no doubt, from a military point of view is very satisfactory, but there is a feeling in the country that the Yeomanry, having been sent out, should have some special chaplain to look after their spiritual needs. It is not merely a military question, but it is one of principle, and is also, as some think, one of sentiment. Therefore I think I may fairly ask that the Yeomanry should be considered not merely as an integral part of the Army, but as a special force 687 sent out under special circumstances, with a staff of their own, and that their claim to have a special chaplain attached to them ought to be recognised. I can see that it would be impossible to appoint chaplains to all the units of the regiments in South Africa, but the suggestion I venture to make is that there should be someone, when they land in South Africa, to attend to their spiritual wants, and told off for the Yeomanry, and who, if necessary, should be attached to the Yeomanry Hospital which has been founded so liberally by the gifts of friends at home. I think it is not unreasonable to ask that something of that kind should be done. Lord Roberts has, I understand, stated that there are sufficient chaplains in South Africa already, but in my opinion the percentage of chaplains to the men is not large, especially when you consider the accidents of war and the various duties a chaplain has, under the circumstances, to perform. I do not know whether any actual addition to the number of chaplains is contemplated to be made to meet the wants of the forces to be sent out, but I hope that one chaplain at least may be attached to the Yeomanry in the way I have indicated in my question. I feel certain that if that is done it will give great satisfaction to the Yeomanry force which has been raised in the most rapid and loyal way to meet a great emergency, and I trust that the War Office will reconsider the absolute refusal they have given, and entertain some proposal such as I have ventured to suggest.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (The Marquess of LANSDOWNE)My Lords, in a matter of this sort nothing would be more agreeable to me than to meet the wishes of the Imperial Yeomanry, to whose patriotism the noble Lord has referred in terms not at all too eulogistic. But the difficulty of carrying out his suggestion is a practical one. It is this, that the Imperial Yeomanry will not be employed as a distinct and separate force of mounted men, but they will be distributed amongst the various brigades. Therefore, it is impossible for any one chaplain to minister to the whole force. I am afraid if a chaplain were designated for that exclusive purpose he would very probably find himself, where-ever he was, in the position of having no congregation of Yeomen to minister to. The noble Lord referred more particularly 688 to the Yeomanry hospital which has been so generously equipped for the care of the sick and wounded men belonging to the Yeomanry. In regard to that I am glad to say that it has been found possible to make an arrangement which, I think, meets his suggestion. A chaplain has been designated particularly to attend to that hospital. The noble Lord was quite correct in saying that Lord Roberts had, a few days ago, expressed his opinion that the supply of chaplains was already sufficient. We had asked him whether it was desirable to send out any more. Since that intimation was received from Lord Roberts five clergymen who had offered their services as chaplains have been accepted.