§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether correspondents of the Press have been permitted to accompany the expedition against the Zakka Khels, and, if so, how many, and what are the newspapers they represent; what has been the reply of Lord Kitchener in response to the right hon. Gentleman's cablegram on this subject which reached Lord Kitchener before the starting of the expedition; whether the practice in recent times has been that Press-correspondents are permitted to a company field forces subject to the supervision of a military Press censorship, to be exercised only in restraining the communication of information which might benefit the enemy in counteracting military operations; whether this practice is to be observed in reference to the presence of the representatives of the Press in the Zakka expedition; and, if not, what is the reason for this departure.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. MORLEY, Montrose Burghs)Throe Press correspondents have so far applied for and received permission to accompany the expedition: they represent two English and six Indian newspapers. I have addressed no telegram to the Commander-in-Chief in India; but on all subjects connected with this expedition I am in communication with the Government of India. The usual practice as to censorship, which is as stated in the Question, will no doubt be followed.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLWhat are the English newspapers represented with the expedition? I suppose The Times?
§ MR. MORLEYOne is The Times and the other is the Daily Mail.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLHear, hear.
§ MR. MORLEYI do not know what the hon. Member means by that ejaculation. Does he mean I am to exercise a Press censorship?
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLWhat I mean is—Is Lord Kitchener of Omdurman to exercise a Press censorship? You recollect his arrangements.
§ [No further Answer was given.]
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether any, and, if so, what, directions have been given with reference to the furnishing of exact information of the numbers of the killed and wounded of the Zakka Khel in the various punitive operations of the expedition; and, having regard to the fact that, while in recent wars with native races, approximate numbers of the killed have been given there is little account of the wounded or of their ultimate fate, what directions, if any, have been given that the same standards of conduct should be observed in this expedition as in warfare with a civilised race, and what are the guarantees, if any, for their observance.
§ MR. MORLEYNo directions have been given in either case. It is clearly impossible to require exact information as to the casualities of an enemy, more especially if, as in this case, it is his practice, if possible, to carry off his dead and wounded. As to the second part of the Question, I am confident that the discipline and humanity of the troops and their commanders render unnecessary any special orders of the kind suggested in the Question. Perhaps I may also be allowed to answer the Question on the Paper which the hon. Gentleman has addressed to the Secretary of State for War. I am informed by the Government of India that no expanding bullets have been issued to the troops, and none are kept in store in India.
§ The Question referred to was as follows:—
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLTo ask the Secretary of State for War whether the dum-dum bullets constructed to expand on impact, invented by a British officer in the town in India from which they are named, which were condemned by the overwhelming volume of opinion at the Hague Peace Conference 628 of 1899 and were not used in the late South African War, are being used by the British troops in the Zakka Khel expedition; and, if so, whether he will peremptorily forbid their use.
§ MR. LUPTON (Lincolnshire, Sleaford)Is it in accordance with humanity for the troops to destroy the houses and carry off the food, corn, and cattle of the inhabitants of the valley?
§ MR. MORLEYIf my hon. friend thinks that military operations can be conducted on the principle that regulates our own pacific dealings, I am afraid his view is chimerical.
§ MR. LUPTONpressed for a direct Answer to his Question.
§ *MR. SPEAKERThe Question hardly arises out of that on the Paper.