§ SIR J. STIRLING-MAXWELL (Wigtonshire)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that Mr. H. H. Fleming, of Glasgow, a University candidate for the Army, having been pronounced physically fit for a Commission by a Medical Board in Edinburgh in July, 1900, was in October, 1901, rejected by the Medical Board who made the final examination for a congenital defect which was discovered and passed by the first Board; and whether, in view of the fact that the inconsistency of the two Boards cost Mr. Fleming eighteen months of time and £200 of money, the Secretary of State will undertake that candidates will be rejected in future for congenital defects at the preliminary examination if they are to be rejected, at all.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Brodrick.) I am aware of this case. This gentleman was held to be unfit for the service owing to weakness and deficiency of the abdominal walls. There was no inconsistency between the Reports of the two Boards, as the candidate's health had become worse in the interval.