§ 79. Sir WILLIAM BULLasked the Under-Secretary for War if he will state how it is that some men who joined the National Reserve since the 11th August last and did not sign the card of obligation have obtained the £5 bounty whilst hundreds of men who have belonged to the National Reserve for years before that date have been refused the bounty on the ground that they have not signed the card of obligation, although they were never invited to do so, or having signed it enlisted through an ordinary recruiting depot?
§ Mr. H. BAKERThe only men who are known to have joined the National Reserve since the 11th August last and have obtained the bounty are a few individuals who had applied to join before that date at places where the supply of cards had temporarily run out. The bounty was payable not for enlisting, but for undertaking beforehand to do so if called up; but it has been given to those who, having given the undertaking, enlisted without waiting to be called up.