§ Mr. BLACKsaid, he wished to ask the Secretary to the Treasury if the men in the Preventive Service in Scotland have any printed or written regulations, or instructions, delivered to them for their guidance; and, if so, whether one of these rules is that the offence of marrying shall be visited with dismissal from the service? and does the prohibition against marriage apply equally to the officers and to the men?
§ MR. LAINGstated, that in the above-mentioned service it was found that unmarried men were more efficient than married men in the performance of patrolling and other duties of that description, which required their absence during four nights in the week from their homes. The Inland Revenue Department had, in consequence, found it necessary to inform those who entered the service that so long as they continued in it they must remain unmarried. The prohibition did not, however, apply to the same extent to the officers as to the men in the service, inasmuch as when the former married they were transferred to some other post as soon as their places could be supplied by gentlemen who were unmarried and who possessed the necessary qualification to discharge the duties which the officers who married had previously performed.