§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether his attention has been drawn to the increase in the number of summary punishments in the Navy afloat since 1894, in proportion to the numbers borne, whereas in regard to the Marines ashore there has been a diminution, from 3,681 summary punishments among 6,452 marines on shore in 1894, to 1,842 among 7,937 of the force in 1904; and whether the Admiralty can offer any explanation of the fact that there was more than one summary punishment per man afloat, and less than one summary punishment per four men ashore in 1904.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) The increase in the number of summary punishments is considered to be due to the large expansion of the personnel of the Fleet, and the consequent younger average age of the ships' companies; the disproportion between offences committed "afloat" and "ashore" is to be attributed to the fact that life at sea is subject to greater restrictions, and is more arduous than in barracks on shore.