§ MR. WILLIAM ABRAHAM (Cork County, N.E.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War if his attention has been directed to the case of Michael Healey, serving in the Provisional Battalion at Shorncliffe, who enlisted in January last, and is under eighteen years of age; and whether he will bring this matter under the notice of the general officer commanding the district with a view to Michael Healey's discharge, to assist in the support of his father (who is in feeble health), mother, and a family of five.
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. WYNDHAM,) DoverWhen a soldier makes a false statement of age on enlistment, and is subsequently shown to be under seventeen years of age, he is forthwith discharged. When he is shown to be between seventeen and eighteen the case is left to the discretion of the General Officer commanding, upon the ground that he is best qualified to judge of special circumstances. I cannot, therefore, undertake to make enquiry into the circumstances of such cases.