§ MR. STEADMAN (Tower Hamlets, Stepney)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether men are entered as labourers at Deptford Victualling Yard between the age of 20 and 45 years; whether all workmen are required to pass a strict medical examination before being employed at Deptford Victualling Yard; and whether the Admiralty have any reason to believe that the Fleet surgeon at Deptford has been passing men into the service who were physically or mentally unsound?
§ THE CIVIL LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. J. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN,) Worcestershire, E.The reply to the 264 first paragraph is in the affirmative. All men are medically examined on entry, but the stringency of the examination' varies with the position for which the men are applying. There is no foundation whatever for the suggestion in the last paragraph.