§ GENERAL FEILDENasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether he has any objection to state the result of the inquiry, by the Committee presided over by Sir Evelyn Wood, into the charges of inefficiency and misconduct brought against the men of the Army Hospital Corps who served in South Africa; and, whether he intends to take any action in the matter?
§ MR. CHILDERSIn reply to the gallant General, I think I had better read the two paragraphs in the Report of the Committee which sum up their opinion—
The Committee think, as regards the general result of the inquiries, that the more serious allegations against the Army Hospital Corps have not been substantiated; they consider, however, that certain individuals of the Corps have been shown to have been unfit for their duties, but that the proofs have been against individuals who were punished at the time, and that the defects in the treatment of the patients arose principally from the suddenness of the outbreak, which struck down the Army Hospital 31 Corps as well as the other corps; and from the dimensions it assumed it could not have been foreseen.I have now, with the concurrence of the Duke of Cambridge, appointed a Committee to inquire into the whole organization of the Corps, and I hope to consider its Report before preparing the Estimates of next year.