HC Deb 04 July 1904 vol 137 cc457-8
MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Doregal, S.)

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he will explain why, although the cat, as an instrument of flogging, has been abolished in the Army, it has only been suspended in the Navy by an order of the Admiralty; will he state why the British seaman is still subject to flogging in naval prisons; and whether, on land or sea, cats are part of the equipment of the naval prisons; and, seeing that the statutory rules and orders as to discipline in naval prisons authorises the infliction of thirty-six lashes or strokes with the cat or birch in the case of a prisoner over eighteen years of age; he will say whether any steps will be taken for the abolition of this punishment in the Royal Navy.

THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. PKETYMAN,) Suffolk, Woodbridge

Flogging with cat o' nine tails was suspended by an order of the Board of Admiralty in 1881. When the Naval Discipline Act was amended in 1884, the power of awarding this punishment was not abolished but remained merely suspended. There has been no amendment of the Naval Discipline Act since then and it is not likely that legislation would be obtained for this reason only. The rules governing the award of this punishment in the Naval Prison Regulations are practically identical with those contained in the statutory rules and orders for local prisons. The answer to the third part of the Question is "Yes." The †To be substituted for Answer previously printed and circulated. fourth part is not understood. There is no intention so far as I am aware of abolishing corporal punishment in the naval prisons.

MR. SWIFT MACNEILL

Then I take it that the cat is part of the necessary equipment of ships of war and training ships.

Ms. PRETYMAN

That was not the Question addressed to me.

MR. SWIFT MACNEILL

Is it part, of the equipment of naval prisons ashore and afloat?

MR. PRETYMAN

There are no naval prisons afloat.

MR. FLAVIN (Kerry, N.)

Seeing that the cat has been abolished in the Army why retain it for the Navy?

[No Answer was returned.]