§ 10. Sir W. BYLESasked the Secretary of State for War whether a young apprentice named Alfred Evans, a conscientious objector under the Military Service Act, was called up on 25th April, was sent to Felixstowe, where he refused to obey military orders, was sentenced to twenty-eight days' imprisonment, and confined in Harwich Circular Redoubt; whether, after serving one week, he was sent to France, where, still refusing to obey military orders, as they were opposed to his moral and religious principles, he suffered various penalties, including extension drill; whether, on 24th June, he was court-martialled and sentenced to death, the sentence afterwards being commuted to ten years' penal servitude; whether he was brought to Winchester on 13th July and his parents visited him on 18th July, having some conversation with him through the double grille; whether he had, in ignorance of the rules, incurred a further penalty by speaking to a fellow conscientious objector and had been given solitary confinement; whether he is aware of the effect of the experience of the past few months on these lads, who are intelligent, clean-living fellows whose only offence is their devotion to their God and refusal to take part in the destruction of human life; whether he and his companions now in Winchester Gaol are to be sent to Portland Convict Prison; and whether, in view of the Prime Minister's pledge that the men who are held to be genuine conscientious objectors will be released from the civil prison on their undertaking to perform work of national 11 importance under civil control, and that all the men whose objection to active military service is founded on honest conviction ought to be and will be able to avail themselves of the exemption which Parliament has provided, he proposes to take any action in the matter?
§ Mr. FORSTERIn view of the fact that this case will be considered by the Central Tribunal, no action in the matter is necessary.
§ 21. Mr. KINGasked the Secretary of State for War how men who have been undergoing imprisonment as conscientious objectors will be treated during the "period elapsing after release from prison and before the Central Tribunal has settled their cases; if retained in prison, will their condition be modified and their punishment relaxed; if retained in the camps or barracks of the Army, will they again be liable to courts-martial; if allowed home on leave, will they be held under surety bound to report themselves; and how many cases of this kind have been remitted to the Central Tribunal?
§ Mr. FORSTERArrangements are being made whereby such men will on release from prison be granted furlough until such time as the tribunal may have adjudicated upon their cases. In the event of the Central Tribunal rejecting their claim such men will receive an order from the War Office to return to their unit. The hon. Member will realise that it is not possible to retain a soldier in prison on the expiration of his sentence. I am not yet in possession of information as to how many cases of this kind have arisen, but I do not think that up to the present moment there have been many such cases. As regards men in detention there have been twenty-nine cases, all of which have been dealt with on the lines indicated above.
§ 37. Mr. MORRELLasked the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that the exemption from combatant service granted to Mr. H. Adams, a school teacher, by the Enfield Local Tribunal was withdrawn by the Middlesex Appeal Tribunal on 17th July; whether the chairman, Mr. Regester, refused to take the applicant's evidence, although he had documentary evidence showing that his objections to war dated back many years; whether the only questions put to the applicant by the chairman of the Appeal 12 Tribunal were questions as to his religious views, and as to whether he belonged to any Church or not; whether the appeal of the local education authority to the effect that the applicant's services were necessary to the successful conduct of the school was also disregarded, on the ground that the work of teaching was not of such national importance as to justify exemption; and whether, in view of these facts, he will order a rehearing of the case?
§ The PRESIDENT of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Long)I am informed by the tribunal that after careful consideration of the case they formed the opinion that the objection of Mr. Adams was not conscientious, and they withdrew the exemption from combatant service granted by the local tribunal, which exemption he had stated he was not prepared to accept. The applicant also stated that he was not prepared to do work of national importance approved by the tribunal as a condition of his exemption from all military service. As regards the appeal of the education authority, I am informed that this was not rejected for the reason stated in the question, but because, in the opinion of the tribunal, it was not expedient in the national interest that Adams, instead of being employed in military service, should continue to be engaged in his present work. I am not prepared to intervene in this case.
§ 38. Mr. MORRELLasked the President of the Local Government Board whether the North Staffordshire Appeal Tribunal has refused to hear the appeal of Mr. G. H. Howe from the decision of the Longton Local Tribunal declining to vary his certificate of exemption from combatant service; whether he is aware that the clerk of the tribunal stated that he had received instructions from the Local Government Board that Mr. Howe had no right of appeal and that his appeal was not to be heard; will he say whether such instructions were given with his sanction; and whether he will instruct the Appeal Tribunal to hear this man's appeal?