§ 110. Mr. RONALD McNEILLasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that Mr. Pinchot, an American citizen, employed as a member of a commission for the relief of civil distress in Belgium, was recently expelled from Belgium after being subjected to indignities at the hands of German officers, and that this treatment was by orders of General von Bissing, the German military governor of Brussels, who alleged in justification that Mr. Pinchot was brother-in-law to the British Minister at The Hague; whether this General von Bissing is himself nearly related to Baron von Bissing, lately resident in Brighton; and whether he will now reconsider his decision to allow Baron von Bissing to remain at liberty 192 in this country with power to communicate with his relative in Brussels?
§ Mr. TENNANTI understand that Mr. Pinchot was expelled from Belgium, but I there is no information as to his having been subjected to indignities. Baron von Bissing, who is believed to be a half-brother of the General, is a British subject, and I do not think it would be possible, nor in accordance with the principles enunciated in this House in the recent discussions on the Defence of the Realm Bill, to deprive him of his liberty on account of the indignities alleged to have been put upon Mr. Pinchot by his half-brother.