On Wednesday and Thursday nights the House of Commons was
occupied with an Army debate raised by Captain Norton and Major Seely. We cannot find space to deal with the discussion in detail, and will therefore confine ourselves to Mr. Arnold-Forster's defence, which though, in our opinion, most unsatisfactory and inconclusive if examined closely, was undoubtedly laid before the House with very great ability, and produced a favourable impression. The sympathy of the House was also roused by the astonishing fact that none of Mr. Arnold-Forster's colleagues took the trouble to support him during the fierce ordeal to which he was subjected, and that the Treasury Bench was, for the most part, empty during the debate. Mr. Arnold-Forster boldly defended his scheme as founded on economy and efficiency. "I contend that every item of the indictment is incorrect,—that we have not diminished the efficiency of the Army, that we have not dis- ordered the Regular Forces at home or abroad, that we have not discouraged the Militia and Volunteers, that we have not been negligent in the matter of the rearmament of the Artillery, that we have pursued a perfectly reasonable course in regard to the armament of the Infantry; and on all these grounds I may truly say that the efficiency of the Army for the defence of the Empire has not been diminished, but has been increased."
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