§ THE EARL OF MEATH rose to ask His Majesty's Government what is the daily allowance of meat and bread allowed to German prisoners of war under British control in France, and whether this amount is on a more generous scale than the meat rations and voluntary bread rations allowed to male civilians engaged in heavy manual work in the British Isles; and if so, considering the treatment experienced by British prisoners of war in Germany, why such exceptional privileges should be allowed to German prisoners.
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, as your Lordships are well aware, there are a certain number of persons in this country, happily very few, who make it their business to try and create discontent and to shake the confidence of the public in His Majesty's Government. It makes very little difference whether these gentlemen are agents of the German Government, or whether they are pro-Germans, or pacifists, or defeatists, or simply gullible persons who believe the first story which come to hand. But as a general rule it is very difficult indeed to trace whence arise these rumours. Whenever it is possible to do so I think your Lordships will agree with me that it is the duty of a loyal subject of His Majesty to try and bring to light the origin of these stories, so that, if there is any real grievance, it may be rectified or altered, and if, on the other hand, there is no truth in these stories, that the lies should be nailed to the counter.
§ I have put down this Question because of the following incident. In may neighbourhood a sergeant, who stated that he was in command of German prisoners, came home on leave and produced a printed document which he asserted had been placed in his hands, as he was responsible for the feeding of the German prisoners, and he complained that German prisoners were systematically being treated far better than the working men of this country. The statement which he made was that the German prisoners in France under his control were allowed 20 ozs. of meat per day and from 16 to 18 ozs. of bread per day. I pointed out to this man, who had already heard him and who said he had seen the printed document, that probably they had made a mistake and that it was "per week"; but I was assured that this was not the case. Therefore I 1199 thought it well to inquire what is the truth of the matter. I have written to the Ministry of Food to find out exactly what is the proper ration for civilians at home. They informed me that it was very difficult to state exactly what the ration is, because it is a money-value ration now and not a weight ration. They also informed me that the ordinary civilian ration may be calculated as 3½ ozs. per day, and for heavy workers 5.10 ozs. per day, instead of 20 ozs. as had been stated the German prisoners were receiving per day in France.
§ Your Lordships will remember that in November, 1917, an appeal was made to all loyal subjects of the King to restrain their appetites as far as possible in regard to bread, so that the sedentary workers should eat only 10 ozs. a day, an ordinary industrial worker should eat 16 ozs. a day, and the heavy worker should eat 18 ozs. a day. This was, of course, a voluntary ration. I will not lay stress upon bread, because that is about equal to the amount which it is stated the German prisoners have, but I will ask that an answer be given to me with regard to these 20 ozs. of meat per day to which I have called attention. I still believe that it is "per week"; but those who heard the man say he stated that such is not the case and that it is "per day." I thought it right to take steps as the man had left, and a telegram was sent to him to produce this document. He asserted that what he had said was absolutely true, but that he could not produce the document because he did not think he had any right to have carried it away. A certain number of working men who heard him and who are spreading the report think there is something in it. Therefore I wish His Majesty's Government to state distinctly that there is no idea of the German prisoners obtaining meat to the amount of 20 ozs. each per day when a heavy worker at home is asked to limit himself to 5.10 ozs.
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY OF THE WAR OFFICE (EARL STANHOPE)My Lords, German prisoners of war under British control in France receive 9 ozs. of bread daily, but if not employed on work they receive only 5 ozs. They also receive from 28 to 30½ ozs. of broken biscuit per week. Taking bread and biscuit together, the German prisoner receives an average of from 13 to 13⅓ ozs. of bread and broken biscuit per day. As the noble Earl knows, the ration for bread in England 1200 is voluntary, and it varies, I understand, between the different grades of workers and in different districts, but it is substantially higher than the ration given to German prisoners even if biscuit is included as bread.
As regards meat, German prisoners in France receive 20 ozs. of meat per week, which is issued at the rate of 4 ozs. on five days a week. This works out at an average of 2[...] ozs. per day. British civilians receive three coupons each for 7 ozs. of butcher's meat in the week, totalling 21 ozs.; and, including the two supplementary coupons for heavy manual workers, and the three coupons, each of 8 ozs., which are given for non-butchers' meat, totalling 24 ozs. a week, heavy manual workers receive 45 ozs. of meat per week, or an average of 6[...] ozs. per day, which is considerably more than double that which is given to German prisoners in France.
I hope that the noble Earl will be good enough to give me the name of his informant, because I entirely agree with him that when information of this kind is given it should be followed up and definitely run to earth. I am glad that the noble Earl has brought this question forward, because we know that certain statements have been made which have absolutely no foundation in fact, and therefore it is well that the real facts should be known. The noble Earl will see that the last part of his Question does not arise, in that German prisoners do not receive better treatment than our own civilians in England.
THE EARL OF MEATHI am very much obliged to the noble Earl for the information he has given. As I understand, it is 4 ozs. of meat on five days a week?
§ EARL STANHOPEYes.
§ EARL STANHOPEBread and biscuit.
§ EARL STANHOPEThey get no meat then. They get a total of 20 ozs. of meat a week, which is given on five days.