§ MR. D. SULLIVAN (Westmeath, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary for War whether Patrick O'Neill, late Corporal Army Reserve (1st Depot Division Field Artillery) has had a sum of £23 stopped from his reserve pay because of two-and-a-half years' absence in America, where he had gone to visit his friends, notwithstanding that he apprised the paymaster as to his whereabouts, and gave 1425 an undertaking to return at any time at his own expense on being summoned; whether he is aware that O'Neill's discharge describes him as of very good character, thoroughly trustworthy, very handy, and fit for any position of trust; and that O'Neill suffers from deafness arising from having been treated with quinine while in a military hospital in India suffering from fever and ague, and is thereby incapacitated from many kinds of employment; whether, under these circumstances, he will consider whether his reserve pay might be allowed to him; and, whether it would be possible to provide him with some employment in the Army Clothing Department, in which his deafness would not be a disqualification?
§ *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN, Stirling Burghs)Reserve pay is essentially a retainer, in virtue of which the soldier is required to be at all times available should he be called on to serve. If a reservist quits the United Kingdom without leave he obviously violates this condition, and his reserve pay is necessarily forfeited during his absence. There is nothing against the character of O'Neill, but that fact would not justify the restoration of his forfeited pay. There is nothing in his military medical history to bear out his statement as to the cause of his deafness. There is no vacancy in the Army Clothing Department to which this man can be appointed.