THE LORD BISHOP OF SALISBURYMy Lords, I rise to ask the Under-Secretary of State for War for information as to the reasons which have led to the long delay in the provision of garrison chapels at Bulford Camp, Wiltshire, and as to the date at which such chapels will be provided there, and also at the new barracks at Tidworth which are now in use by troops. I have a direct personal interest in obtaining a full Answer to this Question, partly as Bishop of Salisbury, in which diocese Bulford Camp and North Tidworth are situated, and partly as chairman of a large local association which does its best to help soldiers on Salisbury Plain and assist chaplains in their ministrations. But I should like to put the question on a broader basis than that. I wish to ask not merely about a chapel for Church of England soldiers, but about garrison chapels in general. I wish to draw the attention of His Majesty's Government, and particularly of the War Office, to the absence of that full recognition of the duties of religion which I am sorry to say seems to me to have characterised their action in regard to Bulford Camp. That camp was opened, if I recollect rightly, as a residential camp in the autumn of 1901, the place having been long used for manœuvres of different kinds. A very large sum was spent upon it, but since that date the War Office has made no proper provision for public worship in the way of buildings. I say no proper provision, because the nature of the provision is this. The War Office hires, for £50 a year, from the association of which I am chairman, a large hall capable of holding from 700 to 800 soldiers, and has also given the chaplain the use of a barrack room; but that large hall, although it was built for the purpose of assisting the War Office in a time of stress—it was erected during the South African War—was not intended by any means to be permanently used for that purpose. We built it for recreative purposes, and we are obliged now 29 to use it for all sorts of recreative purposes. On many nights in the week it is used for stage plays, and those plays, although certain supervision is exercised over them by the officers of the garrison and the chaplain, are not always in harmony with the religious services conducted there on Sunday, and I should very much like an Answer which would tell us that in a very short space of time that co-ordination of such discordant elements will cease, and that we shall be able to use this institute wholly for the recreative purposes for which it was built, without forcing any large gatherings of soldiers for public worship into the open field, for that is really the only alternative at the present moment.
This is a matter which does not merely concern the Church of England; it concerns the nation as a Christian nation. I cannot but feel that the blessing of Almighty God would rest more on all our efforts if we gave a more direct recognition to His share in the affairs of men and of the Army, which is composed very largely of man who have real religious feelings although sometimes they do not display them very openly. This co-ordination of religious and secular purposes is very offensive to both officers and men, and I am sorry to find that there is no definite provision made, so far as I am aware, of any permanent and worthy character in the large barracks at Tidworth, on which I am informed a quarter of a million sterling has been spent. I do think that £10,000 or so might have been found by this time to build a few garrison chapels in connection with that great establishment. I bag to ask the Question standing in my name.
THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (The Earl of DONOUGHMORE)My Lords, I am afraid I shall not be able to give the right rev. Prelate as satisfactory an Answer as he would wish. The reason why garrison chapels have not been built at Bulford Camp and at Tidworth is the lack of funds, which explains why a great many other things have not been done at both those places. We have not completed those stations and provided everything that we require for the use of the troops. We have not been able to complete the original scheme 30 at either of those places, and last year, when we were unable through want of funds to begin any new work these chapels were held over as well as everything else. I confess it is entirely new to me to hear that the use of the large hall of the Church of England garrison at Bulford for purposes of religious services is objected to by the officers and men. It is on all fours with the arrangements that exist at a great many other stations. After what the right rev. Prelate has stated I shall, of course, have the matter inquired into, and if I find this objection does exist I shall ask the local military authorities to see if they can make some other arrangements. This practice of utilising a building used as a recreation room or as a gymnasium for this purpose is by no means novel. It is a practice followed by the Army and the Navy, and I have not heard any serious objections advanced against it. I am afraid I cannot hold out and hope to the right rev. Prelate that we shall be able to proceed with the building of these chapels in the very near future. We have a great many needs and not very much money with which to supply them. But as soon as we can conveniently do so we shall provide the requisite garrison chapels.
THE LORD BISHOP OF SALISBURYI would ask the noble Earl, when he is making the inquiries to which he referred, to be good enough to inquire whether Sir Evelyn Wood, when commanding that district a year or more ago, did not press this matter on the War Office as one of urgent necessity. I should like to explain that the reason the institute is allowed to be used for various entertainments is that this is the only way of keeping the men happily employed during the winter evenings in camp; but that, I think, does not in the least prevent the more serious-minded from feeling the great incongruity of the situation.
§ House adjourned at Six o'clock, till To-morrow, half-past Ten o'clock.