§ Mr. BENNETT-GOLDNEYasked the Secretary for War whether he will inform the House of the precise terms of any official communications which have been received at the War Office from county associations as to the reasons they assign for the continuance of the shortage both of officers and men in the Territorial Force?
§ Mr. BENNETT-GOLDNEYalso asked the Secretary for War whether his attention had been called to the fact that county associations have already expressed their convictions that no adequate increase of officers and men to complete the establishment is likely to be forthcoming unless the funds at their disposal are sufficiently augmented to meet the separation allowances and other charges which have been so strongly recommended by the associations; and whether he will state what material encouragement he is prepared to give to the associations to enable them to carry out his instructions as to recruiting?
§ Mr. BENNETT-GOLDNEYlikewise asked whether the Army Council are willing to consent to the request of the county associations for the grant of separation allowances, or some satisfactory form of bounty to the rank and file as well as to non-commissioned officers of the Territorial Army, the non-granting of which not only frustrates the efforts of recruiting committees, but means that numbers of married men are thus debarred from joining owing to the lack of financial assistance?
§ Mr. HALDANEI cannot undertake to deal properly with the points raised in Questions No. 92* to 94* within the limits of a reply to a question. I would therefore ask him to wait until Army Estimates are under discussion when I shall have an opportunity of making a full statement in regard generally to the Tentorial Force and in particular to the matter now mentioned.