§ MR. HUNT (Shropshire, Ludlow)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty if he will explain why, as corporal punishment in the Navy is not supposed to be more severe than it is in public schools, it is still found necessary to have boys examined by a doctor before being birched; and why boys under eighteen are obliged to be tied down and flogged in public, contrary to the practice in public schools.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. PRETYMAN, Suffolk. Woodbridge)The medical examination made before birching is looked upon as a reasonable though not an essential precaution, a medical officer being always available on the spot. Boys at public schools are held down and boys on training ships are tied down, the object in both cases being the same.