§ SIR GEORGE CAMPBELLasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether, now that all regiments are double battalion, it might not be arranged that boys in training for musicians and tailors should be taught in the battalion at home, till they are of mature age, instead of being sent prematurely to India?
§ MR. CHILDERSIn reply to my hon. Friend, I have to state that the Duke of Cambridge consulted the Medical Director General on this subject some months ago, and that he advised, and I decided, that boys might safely go to India, if of proper age and medically fit. The objection to sending men under 20 to perform, in the climate of India, the ordinary duty of privates does not apply to boys employed as musicians or tailors, whose duties are much lighter, and it would be most inconvenient to dispense with them in India. The subject is, however, one of which I will not lose sight.