On Monday, in Committee of Supply, the House of Commons
discussed the appointment of the Duke of Con- naught to the Aldershot command. Mr. Dalziel, who brought the matter before the Committee, pointed out that Aldershot is the great military training-school of the Kingdom and the great testing-station of the Army, through which from ten to twelve thousand men are passed every year, and that therefore the command at Aldershot being in really competent hands might make all the difference between an efficient and a non-efficient Army. Could it be said that the Duke of Connaught was the best man the War Office could obtain ?— especially as it was admitted that Lord Roberts was willing to fill the post. Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, owing to the fact that there was absolutely no case for the defence, had con- siderable difficulty in sustaining his action. The Duke of Connaught was fit for the post, and he had been under fire, because the Egyptian troops fired so badly that when they aimed at our fighting-line they hit the reserves where the Duke of Connaught was stationed. Next, the Duke was entitled to the oommand by seniority,—Mr. Campbell-Banner- man did not, however, explain that the seniority had been acquired on grounds different from those on which the ordinary soldier's is acquired. Thirdly, even though Lord Roberts would have gone, it would have been an indignity to have sent him to Aldershot as drill-master. This last answer has the distinction of being among the weakest, if not the weakest, ever made in Parliament. We have no doubt what- -ever as to the true history of the appointment. It was known that the Queen was anxious that the Duke should go to Aldershot, and as he was in no sense impossible as a General—i.e., he is not a Duke of York—it was given to him rather than to the best-qualified officer. It should be men- tioned, however, that Mr. Campbell-Bannerman again pledged the Government, on the next vacancy to abolish the office -of Commander-in-Chief.
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