§ THE DUKE OF BEDFORDMy Lords, I rise to ask the noble Earl the Undersecretary of State for War: (l)If he will lay upon the Table of the House a copy of the form of attestation for a man enlisting from the Militia into the Special Reserve under Clause 29 of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act, and also a copy of the attestation form for a man enlisting in the proposed Territorial Army under Clause 8 of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act; (2) What will e the rate of pay for the proposed Section A of the new Special Reserve, and 268 the qualifications; (3) Will the enlistment for the new third battalions of the Special Reserve be county enlistment as at present for the Militia, or general enlistment as at present for the Army; (4) What was the total strength of officers and non-commissioned officers and men of all branches of the Volunteer Force on the 1st June, 1907.
THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOE WAR (The Earl of PORTS- MOUTH)My Lords, the forms of attestation for a man enlisting from the Militia in to the Special Reserve and for a man enlisting in to the proposed Territorial Army are being prepared, and they will. be laid upon the Table of your Lordships' House as soon as possible. Such forms embody a great amount of detail, and their wording must be perfectly explicit if we are to be fair to the men enlisting. The greatest care must therefore be exercised in their preparation. Some of the details necessarily depend upon the final shape of the Bill. The rate of pay for the proposed Section A of the Special Reserve is not yet definitely settled. The conditions will, generally speaking, be similar to those for Section A of the Regular Reserve, but the special qualifications, such as special efficiency in musketry, etc., have not yet been finally determined. The enlistment for the new third battalions of the Special Reserve will be, as now, as territorial as possible. But even in the case of the present Militia it is sometimes found necessary to enlarge the recruiting area of certain units. As to the total strength of officers and non-commissioned officers and men of all branches of the Volunteer Force on June 1, 1907, the numerical returns of Volunteers are only received quarterly at the War Office. The figures for the quarter ended June 30 are not yet quite ready. The figures for April last were: Officers, 8,735; men. 240,156; total, 248,891. These figures are for all arms, but they do not include the permanent staff. The total for officers which I have given includes quartermasters, medical and veterinary officers, and acting chaplains, but is exclusive of seconded officers.
§ THE DUKE OF BEDFORDAm I to understand that there is no chance of 269 seeing the attestation forms before the Report stage of the Bill is reached?
§ THE EARL OF PORTSMOUTHFor the reasons I have given I am afraid not.