HC Deb 26 March 1913 vol 50 cc1619-20
8. Sir WILLIAM BYLES

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in view of the difficulty of giving the approximate number of caning punishments in His Majesty's Navy as had been done in previous years, he can say that one such punishment to every three boys in the Navy as deduced from previous figures would be a probably truthful estimate; whether there is any official discouragement of these corporal punishments; and will he say whether the same punishments are applied impartially to cadets as to boys of the lower ranks?

Dr. MACNAMARA

I am not in a position to commit myself to the accuracy or otherwise of my hon. Friend's calculation. The fact that the punishment of caning is limited to serious offences may certainly be regarded as a discouragement of any unnecessary use of the cane. I may remind my hon. Friend that under existing instructions this punishment is not administered in public, and can only be awarded by the captain's orders, except in cases where he is absent for over forty-eight hours, in which case the punishment may be administered at the order of the commanding officer. As to cadets, if their conduct warrants corporal punishment, they are no more exempt from it than are the boy bluejackets.

Mr. J. WARD

May we take it for granted that, while there is no rule against cadets being flogged, they never are flogged?

Dr. MACNAMARA

I said that if their conduct warranted corporal punishment they were not exempt.

Mr. J. WARD

Are cadets flogged for exactly the same or similar offences as ordinary boys in the Navy?

Dr. MACNAMARA

I would not use the word "flogged." I do not think that a blow with a cane is a flogging. At any rate, I have had considerable personal experience, and I never considered it to be flogging.

Mr. J. WARD

I understand that one boy in three—

Mr. SPEAKER

Perhaps the hon. Member will put his question in an interrogative form.

Mr. J. WARD

Do I understand that the proportion of boys in the lower ratings who are flogged or caned is the same as the proportion among the cadets?

Dr. MACNAMARA

The late First Lord of the Admiralty, in a reply to the hon. Member for Salford, stated that at that time one in three were caned. I cannot say what the proportion is now, but I can assure my hon. Friend that if a cadet misbehaves himself he is just as liable to corporal punishment as the other boys.