§ THE EARL OF WEMYSSMy Lords, I rise to ask the Secretary of State for War (1) to what extent the Militia is below its establishment at the present 1428 time; (2) of those serving, how many so-called Militiamen are serving in Great Britain, and of these how many are below twenty and eighteen years of age:, (3) what force of Militia Infantry, deducting Militiamen under twenty years of ago, and making an average allowance for casualties and absentees, could at the present time be put in the field for the home defence of the United Kingdom. In putting this question to my noble friend, I have no desire at all to revive1 the discussion on the Militia Ballot Bill I do not wish to ask your Lordships to-consider whether the Militia Ballot Bill or the promise of clean clothes which was given by my noble friend the Secretary of State for War will be the more likely to fill the chronic vacancies in the Militia. But I should like to clear up a personal matter. I am, unfortunately, very deaf, and I did not hear what the noble Marquess said in answer to the remarks I made in the recent discussion; but on reading his speech I find that he spoke of my inability to recognise any merit in any measures except those which I my-self initiated. That is a very general assertion, and I therefore ask the noble Marquess to condescend to particulars, and to name the measures I have initiated bearing upon this question which I prefer to the measures proposed by the Government. As to the strength of the Militia, I have received a communication from an officer thoroughly conversant with the state of things in one district, in which he states that I ought to have asked how many Militiamen were below sixteen. I do not know who it comes from, but I hold in my hand another letter, written on official paper but anonymous, in which it is stated that in a certain district the actual strength of the Militia is 5,655, while the establishment proper is 9,255, so that in that particular-district the Militia is below its proper strength by 3,600. The writer goes on to say that the number of captains is three-fourths of the establishment, and that the Militia are now being trained in great part by subalterns, which accounts for the adverse criticism recently passed by the Commander-in-Chief as to their efficiency.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (The Marquess of LANSDOWNE). My Lords, the noble Earl began by asking; me for an explanation of a passage which 1429 he quoted—I have no doubt correctly—from the speech I delivered the other evening when his motion in favour of the Militia ballot was debated. The noble Earl on that occasion pressed upon your Lordships the desirability of having recourse to the Militia ballot. I, on the contrary, asked your Lordships to believe that other measures having important effects upon the efficiency and strength of the Militia force should be tried before there was any question of having resort to the ballot, and at the end of my remarks I told the noble Earl that I thought he was unable to see any merit in any measure except that which he was himself pressing upon the House.
§ THE EARL OF WEMYSSInitiating.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEThe noble Earl presses the word "initiating." He certainly initiated it on that occasion, at any rate. He refused to admit that our measures had any merit, but I am glad the House thought with us and came to the conclusion at which we had arrived. The noble Earl a few moments ago called my attention to a case in which an anonymous informant had told him that in a particular district the Militia was to an alarming extent below its strength. I cannot identify the case, but if the noble Earl chooses to supply me with the necessary information I will make inquiries. I will now answer the questions on the Paper. I may explain that the figures which I shall give him will be exclusive of the permanent staff of the Militia and of the Militia officers. The establishment of the Militia is 124,273. The number of men now serving with the Militia is 91,824, but in addition to those there are about 12,000 Militia Reservists who are now serving with the Line. If those be added the deficiency is increased from about 20,000 to about 32,000.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEIncluding the Militia Reservists the deficiency will be 32,000, and excluding them, 20,000. Of the Militia serving at home there are in Great Britain 57,000, and in Ireland 13,000. Of the 57,000 in Great Britain there are, under the age of twenty, 21,000, of whom 5,000 are under 1430 the age of eighteen. Of the 13,000 in Ireland 5,500 are under twenty and of those 1,400 are under eighteen. Then, my Lords, we come to the Infantry Militia. The Infantry Militia in the United Kingdom numbers 54,000,, of whom 22,000 are under twenty. About 2,700 would represent the normal deduction to be made from that number on account of sick. All that I need add is that for the purpose of calculating the number of men who can be put into the field for the home defence of the United Kingdom, we should certainly not deduct all men below the age of twenty. No such deduction has, to the best of my belief, ever been made.
§ THE EARL OF WEMYSSI beg to thank the noble Marquess for the statement he has just made. Perhaps he will pardon me if I again refer to the personal matter I mentioned when asking the question. My noble friend has just stated that what he said referred to the measure that I was pressing on the House. What the noble Marquess really said was that I could see no merit in any measure that I did not myself initiate. What I want to point out is that I had nothing whatever to do with the initiation of the measure for the Militia ballot. I was simply pressing on the Government the measure which they themselves initiated.