§ MR. WICKHAM (Hants, Petersfield)(for Mr. JEFFREYS, Hants, Basingstoke): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether the Committee recently appointed to inquire into the examinations held for admission to the Army have made their Report; whether he can now state the details of the future examinations for the Army; and whether, for the convenience of candidates, he will make these details publicly known as soon as possible?
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE WAR OFFICE (Mr. WOODALL,) HanleyThe Committee appointed to inquire into examinations for admission to the Army has not yet reported. Regulations concerning the examinations for the future are, as I stated last night, in the hands of the printer, and will shortly be issued.
§ MR. WICKHAM(for Mr. JEFFREYS): I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that some of the candidates for the Army at present in Sandhurst College habitually use eyeglasses; whether some medical examiners offer candidates the use of glasses when testing their sight; whether in the recent case of the rejection of G. M. Nicholson for the Army on account of a slight defect in one eye the medical examiner had refused to test his eyesight by means of a glass; and what are the instructions under which the medical examiners conduct these examinations?
§ MR. WOODALLIt is probable that some gentlemen at Sandhurst do wear eyeglasses. In some cases it is necessary to use glasses in testing candidates, in order to determine the nature and degree of defective vision. The Regulations require that a candidate shall be able to go through certain tests of eyesight without glasses, and in these Mr. Nicholson failed. The examination is conducted under instructions laid down in the Medical Regulations, Paragraphs 777 to 780.