§ MR. ASHLEYI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War what is the minimum age for enlistment into the infantry; and whether there is any intention of changing the age at present fixed.
§ MR. HALDANEThe minimum age for enlistment into the Regular infantry is eighteen years. There is no present intention of changing this limit.
§ *MR. ASHLEYDoes the right hon. Gentleman consider seventeen a sufficient age for a youth to enter the first class of the Army Reserve, when the Regular Infantry cannot be enlisted in till eighteen?
§ MR. HALDANEwas understood to reply that it was a convenient arrangement to enlist a certain number of men into the Militia at seventeen with a view to their subsequently passing into Regular Army.