§ Order for Third Reading read.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed "That the Bill be now read the third time.
§ R. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.) moved that this Bill be rejected, and did so simply to call the attention, not perhaps of the House, but of the public to the very shocking system of maladministration of martial law in the British Army at the present time. When the Army was put under exceptional legislation, as it was by the Army Annual Act, and when certain liberties were taken from the soldiers, there was this protection, that there should be a Minister in this House responsible to this House for the way in which the exceptional law was administered. The Judge-Advocate General had always been a man of considerable eminence at the bar, and he was made a Privy Councillor. And why? Because the Army was still the King's Army. He was a Minister, not only responsible to this House, but to the King. It was his prerogative to approach the King personally, and lay before His Majesty the letters of Courts-martial and give the King advice in reference to these Courts-martial. The Judge-Advocate General was also responsible to this House by way of Motion and interjection as to how martial law was administered. On several occasions Commissions were appointed to make inquiries with reference to the way in which this House should be made cognisant of the administration of martial law; and the last Commission reported that the office of Judge-Advocate General should be maintained. Then came the 1446 appointment of Sir Francis Jeune, afterwards Lord St. Helier, in 1892, who continued in office until 1904, with Sir John Stocks as Deputy Judge-Advocate General. But now, under this constitutional Government, there was no one responsible to the House as to how martial law was administered! The present gentleman who acted as Deputy Judge-Advocate General was not a Minister in this House; he was not a Privy Councillor, and had no right of personal access to the Crown, and could not even be appointed to a County Court Judgeship. He maintained that that was an intolerable position. The duty of the Judge-Advocate General was to revise the decisions of Courts-martial. In 1900 there were 17,794 Courts-martial, forty-seven of the decisions of which were quashed. In 1901 there were 19,000 Courts-martial, the decisions of sixty-seven of which were quashed; and in 1902 there were 14,000 Courts-martial, the decisions of forty-seven of which were quashed. On occasion the Deputy Judge-Advocate General had to review the decision of as many as twenty-four Courts-martial in a few hours. That would be laughable, but it was cruel to the men who were subject to it. He would give a concrete instance. A Court-martial was held a short time ago in a town in Ireland of a young lad who had been betrayed into one act of drunkenness. The unfortunate boy was arrested, tried by Court-martial, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. But in the same regiment a well-favoured serjeant had been three times convicted of drunkenness and let off with a caution. In order to protest against the way in which martial law was administered, he moved that this Bill be read a third time this day six months.
1447§ MR. NANNETTI (Dublin, College Green)seconded the Motion.
§
Amendment proposed—
To leave out the word 'now,' and at the end of the Question to add the words 'upon this day three months'"—(Mr. Swift Mac-Neill.)
§ Question proposed, "That the word 'now' stand part of the Question."
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (MR. ARNOLD-FORSTER, Belfast, W.)said that last year the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition raised a discussion as to the constitutional character of the appointment to the office of Judge-Advocate General and suggested that that official should be an independent person, a man of sufficient authority; he ought not to be an unkown or obscure person, but a gentleman learned in the law. With all these suggestion he entirely agreed. It was true that since the death of Lord St. Helier there had been an ad interim administration of this very important office. The tenure of this office by Lord St. Helier was exceptional and without precedent, and it had been necessary to consider carefully the best method of continuing the office after that exceptional tenure had expired. It had now been decided to follow in this matter the example of
§ the Admiralty, and to appoint to this office not a Judge of the High Court, but a lawyer of eminence, who would satisfy all the conditions laid down by the Leader of the Opposition. The gentleman who would be selected would to appointed to this office alone. He would be a Civil servant, and would give the whole of his time to the work of his department. He would be appointed, as the Judge-Advocate of the Fleet was appointed, to do work for the Army corresponding to that of the Judge-Advocate of the Fleet for the Navy.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLasked if this gentleman would be amenable to Parliamentary criticism?
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERsaid he would be amenable to Parliamentary criticism in the same way as the Judge-Advocate of the Fleet was. He would be appointed by the Secretary of State. His salary would be placed on the Estimates, and the representative in this House of the War Office would be responsible for him just as the head of the Navy Department was responsible for the Judge-Advocate of the Fleet.
§ Question put.
§ The House divided:—Ayes, 118; Noes, 66. (Division List No. 250.)
1449| AYES. | ||
| Agg-Gardner, James Tynte | Balfour, Rt Hn Gerald W. Leeds | Butcher, John George |
| Agnew, Sir Andrew Noel | Balfour, Kenneth R. (Christen. | Carson, Rt. Hon. Sir Edw. H. |
| Anson, Sir William Reynell | Banbury, Sir Frederick George | Cavendish, V. C. W. (Derbyshire |
| Arkwright, John Stanhope | Banner, John S. Harmood- | Chamberlain, Rt Hn J. A. (Worc. |
| Arnold-Foster, Rt. Hn. Hugh O. | Bathurst, Hon. Allen Benjamin | Coates, Edward Feetham |
| Arrol, Sir William | Bhownaggree, Sir M. M. | Cochrane, Hon. Thos. H. A. E |
| Atkinson, Rt. Hon. John | Bignold, Sir Arthur | Corbett, A. Cameron (Glasgow) |
| Aubrey-Fletcher, Rt. Hn Sir H. | Bingham, Lord | Cust, Henry John C. |
| Bagot, Capt. Josceline FitzRoy | Brodrick, Rt. Hon. St. John | Dalkeith, Earl of |
| Balcarres, Lord | Brotherton, Edward Allen | Dalrymple, Sir Charles |
| Balfour, Rt. Hn. A. J. (Manch'r. | Brymer, William Ernest | Davenport, William Bromley |
| Dickson, Charles Scott | Knowles, Lees | Roberts, Samuel (Sheffield |
| Doughty, Sir George | Law, Andrew Bonar (Glasgow) | Robertson, Herbert (Hackney) |
| Douglas, Rt. Hon. A. Akers | Lawrence, Wm. F. (Liverpool) | Rolleston, Sir John F. L. |
| Doxford, Sir William Theodore | Lawson, Hn. H.L. W. (Mile End | Scott, Sir S. (Marylebone, W.) |
| Fellowes, Rt. Hn Ailwyn Edward | Lee, Arthur H. (Hants, Fareham | Seely, Charles Hilton (Lincoln |
| Fielden, Edward Brocklehurst | Legge, Col. Hon. Heneage | Smith, H. C (North'mb. Tyneside |
| Finlay, Sir R. B. (Inv'rn'ssB'ghs | Leveson-Gower, Frederick N.S. | Smith, Rt Hn J Parker (Lanarks. |
| Fisher, William Hayes | Lockwood, Lieut.-Col. A. R. | Stanley, Rt. Hn. Lord (Lanes.) |
| Fitzroy, Hon. Edward Algernon | Long, Rt. Hn. Walter (Bristol, S. | Stewart, Sir Mark J. M'Taggart |
| Forster, Henry William | M'Killop, James (Stirlingshire | Stirling-Maxwell, Sir John M. |
| Foster, Philip S. (Warwick, S. W. | Manners, Lord Cecil | Strutt, Hon. Charles Hedley |
| Gardner, Ernest | Marks, Harry Hananel | Talbot, Lord E. (Chichester) |
| Godson, Sir Augustus Frederick | Massey-Mainwaring, Hn. W. F. | Talbot, Rt. Hn. J. G. (Oxf'dUniv. |
| Gordon, Hn JE (Elgin & Nairn | Montagu, Hon. J. Scott (Hants.) | Taylor, Austin (East Toxteth) |
| Gordon, J. (Londonderry, S.) | Morgan, David J. (Walthamstow | Tomlinson, Sir Wm. Edw. M. |
| Greene, Sir EW (B'rySEdm'nds | Morpeth, Viscount | Tuff, Charles |
| Greene, W. Raymond (Cambs. | Morrell, George Herbert | Vincent, Col. Sir C. E. H. (Sheffield |
| Hambro, Charles Eric | Mount, William Arthur | Walker, Col. William Hall |
| Hamilton, Marq. of(L'nd'nderry | Nicholson, William Graham | Walrond, Rt. Hn. Sir William H. |
| Hardy, Laurence (Kent, Ashford | Percy, Earl | Warde, Colonel C. E. |
| Hare, Thomas Leigh | Platt-Higgins, Frederick | Welby, Lt.-Col. A. C. E. (Taunton |
| Heath, Arthur Howard (Hanley, | Plummer, Sir Walter R. | Whitmore, Charles Algernon |
| Heath, Sir James (Staffords. N. W' | Powell, Sir Francis Sharp | Williams, Colonel R. (Dorset) |
| Hill, Henry Staveley | Pretyman, Ernest George | Willoughby de Eresby, Lord |
| Hope, J. F. (Sheffield, Brightside | Pryce-Jones, Lt.-Col. Edward | Wilson, A. Stanley (York, E. R. |
| Howard, John (Kent. Faversham | Randles, John S. | |
| Hunt, Rowland | Rankin, Sir James | TELLERS FOR THE AYES—Sir Alexander Acland-Hood and Viscount Valentia. |
| Jeffreys, Rt. Hn. Arthur Fred. | Reid, James (Greenock) | |
| Kenyon-Slaney, Rt. Hon. Col. W. | Renshaw, Sir Charles Bine | |
| Keswick, William | Renwick, George | |
| NOES. | ||
| Abraham, William (Cork, N. E | Griffith, Ellis J. | O'Dowd, John |
| Allen, Charles P. | Hammond, John | O'Kelly, Conor (Mayo, N.) |
| Baker, Joseph Allen | Harcourt, Lewis | O'Malley, William |
| Barran, Rowland Hirst | Hayden, John Patrick | Partington, Osward |
| Boland, John | Higham, John Sharp | Pease, J. A. (Saffron Walden) |
| Brigg, John | Hope, John Deans (Fife, West | Reddy, M. |
| Bright, Allan Heywood | Jones, David B. (Swansea) | Roberts, John H. (Denbigbs.) |
| Buxton, NE (York, NR, Whitby) | Jones, Leif (Appleby) | Roe, Sir Thomas |
| Caldwell, James | Jones, William (Carnarvonshire | Samuel, Herb. L. (Cleveland) |
| Cogan, Denis J. | Joyce, Michael | Seely, Maj. J. E. B. (Isle of Wight |
| Condon, Thomas Joseph | Kennedy, Vincent P (Cavan, W | Soares, Ernest J. |
| Cremer, William Randal | Lamont, Norman | Sullivan, Donal |
| Cullinan, J. | Lawson, Sir Wilfrid (Cornwall | Thomas, David Alfred (Mertbyr |
| Delany, William | Layland-Barratt, Francis | Toulmin, George |
| Devlin, Chas. Ramsay (Galway | Levy Maurice | Villiers, Ernest Amherst |
| Devlin, Joseph (Kilkenny, N.) | Lundon, W. | Warner, Thomas Courtenay T. |
| Dobbie, Joseph | Lyell, Charles Henry | Williams, Osmond (Merioneth) |
| Doogan, P. C. | MacVeagh, Jeremiah | Wilson, John (Durham, Mid.) |
| Duffy, William J. | M'Kenna, Reginald | |
| Eve, Harry Trelawney | M'Killop, W. (Sligo, North) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES.—Mr. MacNeill and Mr. Nannetti. |
| Ffrench, Peter | Murphy, John | |
| Findlay, Alexander (Lanark, NE | Nolan, Joseph (Louth, South) | |
| Flavin, Michael Joseph | O'Brien, Patrick (Kilkenny | |
| Goddard, Daniel Ford | O'Connor, Jas. (Wicklow, W.) |
Question put, and agreed to.