§ MR. PIRIE (Aberdeen, N.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether he will state the extent to which the experiment to establish a system of verification of the ages of recruits for the Army was carried, and what means were employed; whether the general qualifications as to character, education, and re- 1274 spectability of the recruits whose ages could not be verified could compare favourably with those of the recruits who had no difficulty in producing satisfactory proof of age; and whether the immediate discharge from the Army can always be procured of boys proved to be under seventeen years who are prompted thoughtlessly by the allurements of the recruiting agency to give false statements as to their ages, such discharge from the Army taking place without punishment being awarded them from either a civil or military court.
§ MR. WYNDHAMSearch was made in the registers at Somerset House, in Edinburgh, and in Dublin for the certificates concerning 18,000 recruits under the age of twenty according to the places of birth and dates given on attestation. Although a liberal margin was allowed for errors in date, 45 percent. could not be traced at all, and 15 percent. were very doubtful. The labour was very great and the result was not considered to be of sufficient value to justify its continuance. There is no record of the comparative characters of the men identified and those not identified. A boy proved to be under seventeen years of age is immediately discharged; but under Sections 33 and 99 of the Army Act he is liable to punishment for having made a false statement of age on attestation.
§ MR. WYNDHAMYes.