CAPTAIN PHILLPOTTSI beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, out of a batch of 80 men surveyed at Haslar Hospital and found unfit for further service in Her Majesty's Navy, the majority were young stokers with less than six months' service, who were incapacitated by pulmonary complaints; 14 and if the Government have any plan to check the development of such diseases among this class?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTYI have seen a statement to the effect of the hon. and gallant Member's Question, but it is entirely incorrect, and I regret its publication, as tending to create apprehensions for which there is no foundation. The statement suggests that, out of 80 men surveyed, the majority were young stokers with less than six months' service, incapacitated by pulmonary complaints. As a matter of fact, out of 76 men and boys who were invalided at Haslar last month on the occasion in question, only 18 were stokers, and of these, both young and old, only eight were found unlit on account of pulmonary disease. Of these eight, five were 22 years of age and upwards.