§ SIR GEORGE BADEN-POWELL (Liverpool, Kirkdale)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in regard to the merchant steamers which earn a subvention as armed cruisers, but are stationed in the North Pacific Ocean, those members of the crew who are also Royal Naval Reserve men are enabled to re-enrol as Reserve or to receive the retaining fee due to them unless they report themselves personally in the United Kingdom, a step involving the giving up their employment, and the expenditure of time and money in making 375 the journey home; and, whether steps can be taken to obviate these difficulties, and to permit of the enrolment and re-enrolment of members of the Royal Naval Reserve in such stations as Esquimault and Hong Kong, and the payment at those naval stations of the fees that may be due for service in the Reserve?
MR. GOSCHENThe question has recently been under the consideration of a departmental committee appointed by the late Board of Admiralty, and it is proposed to obtain statutory authority to amend the Act for the establishment of Royal Naval Volunteers (22 & 23 Vict., c. 40), so as to give power to enrol and re-enrol men abroad, and for the payment of their retainers.