§ SIR JOHN COLOMB (Great Yarmouth)On behalf of the noble Lord the Member-for Woolwich, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether the grant of the war medal for the South African War, now concluded, will be extended to those of the Mercantile Marine who were employed by the Transport Department during the war; whether, if so, the precedent established after the Egyptian War of 1882, when the medal was conferred on masters of transports only, will be extended so that the grant may include all officers and men of the-Mercantile Marine employed by the Transport Department; and whether, if the medal is not to be granted to those officers and men of the Mercantile Marine employed by the Transport Department, he will state why these non-combatants are to be treated on a different footing to the other non-combatants on whom the medal has been, or will be, conferred.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. ARNOLD-FORSTER,) Belfast, W.I fear I can only refer the noble Lord to the answer given by me to the hon. Member for Sevenoaks on the 17th June.† The matter to which the Question, refers concerns several Departments, and, though it is under consideration, no final decision has yet been arrived at.