§ MR. ROUNDELLasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether it is the fact that, on. the 18th of April, Private Slater, of the 4th Lincolnshire Battalion of Militia, having spit whilst on parade, was ordered by the Adjutant, Captain Hodson, to fall out of the ranks; that thereupon the Adjutant ordered him an extra half-hour's drill with a stone in his mouth; that, in consequence of the refusal of Private Slater to submit to such an order, he was ordered by the Adjutant to be handcuffed, and was locked up for the night in a cell; that, on the following morning (Saturday, the 19th instant), Private Slater was brought before the Adjutant and charged with having refused to drill for half an hour with a stone in his mouth; that, in consequence, he was sentenced by the Adjutant to forty-eight hours in the cells with hard labour, which consisted of breaking stones for road-mending; and that this sentence was accordingly carried out; and, if the above is substantially accurate, whether the proceedings of the Adjutant are in accordance with the Regulations of the Queen?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONAs a matter of fact, the man was not sentenced to drill with a stone in his mouth; but he was threatened with that punishment. The punishment actually inflicted was for gross insubordination in the ranks. The adjutant was wrong in threatening a punishment which is not authorized by the Regulations, and he would be reprimanded.