Mr. George Wyndham in his reply refused, perhaps prudently, to
deal specifically with these allegations, and only made a general defence of War Office arrangements. He denied that they had injured the Army by depleting the Reserve, for the Reserve was now eighty-two thousand strong. The immediate problem was to find garrisons for India, Egypt, and at this moment an augmented garrison for South Africa. Then there was the permanent problem of finding garrisons for those places which the War Office were informed; by the united counsel of their naval and military experts, ought to be occupied as naval bases and coaling-stations. "To do that required at least nineteen white battalions and twelve native battalions abroad, for the mere routine work of sentry-go round the world. Then seventy-five infantry battalions were required at home, seventeen and a half battalions to form what he might call the scheme of defence, and sixty and a half battalions to occupy India and other countries." That is a useful epitome of the military needs of the nation.
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