§ MR. LEA (St. Pancras, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War if he will appoint a Committee to inquire into the appointment of privates and non-commissioned officers to the military police, and also into the manner in which that body performs its duties, with a view to its thorough reorganisation on different lines, in view of the manner in which some of its members behave toward soldiers.
In putting the question the hon. Member asked whether the Speaker had authorised 1124 the alteration of the Question, and whether the Clerks at the Table had power to sub-edit Questions put in by hon. Members.
§ *MR. SPEAKERI have not seen the Question in its original form. Certainly the Clerks at the Table have full power to sub-edit any Questions brought to them. If any necessity arises I shall be glad to consider any Question myself, but with the duties which are imposed upon me by the House it would be practically impossible for me to revise all the Questions brought to the Table.
§ MR. MORTON (Sutherland)Should the Clerks at the Table not inform an hon. Member whose Question is altered so that he might have an opportunity of seeing it before it is placed on the Paper?
§ *MR. SPEAKERThe Clerks always endeavour to do so. If an hon. Member has left the House, it is not easy to get into communication with him, but if he is in the House, they take every possible means of getting into communication with him.
§ MR. MORTONBut, Sir, I never leave the House.
§ MR. LEAI was certainly in the House yesterday and the day before, when I put down the Question, and I had no notification that the Clerks desired a change.
§ *MR. SPEAKERThe hon. Member places me at a great disadvantage. This Question must have been on the Paper for some days. If he had a complaint to make, why did he not come to me?
§ MR. HALDANE,answering the Question, said men were carefully selected for the military police. No complaints had been received of the manner in which they performed those duties. He saw no reason for appointing a Committee of Inquiry.