§ MR. SLOANTo ask the Secretary of State for War if he can state under what 1120 circumstances military bands are permitted to compete with civilian bands for engagements at entertainments in districts where they are stationed; and what is the object of such competition.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) The orders issued by the Army Council enjoin that military bands are not to seek for or take up engagements through the medium of musical or other agents, or through the press, and that no engagement should be accepted on terms which are less than those which would in the same circumstances be offered to other than military bands. They are thus prevented from entering into competition with civilian bands for engagements.