§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That a sum, not exceeding £50,635, be granted to His Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1917, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Prison Commissioners for Scotland, and of the Prisons under their control, including the Maintenance of Criminal Lunatics, Defectives, and Inmates of the State Inebriate Reformatory, and the Preparation of Judicial Statistics." [NOTE.—£50,000 has been voted on account.]
§ Mr. HOGGECan the late Secretary for Scotland tell us whether it is true that the authorities in various parts of the country are taking away the prison warders who are trained particularly for the work of the prisons, and substituting for them soldiers, many of them certified as medically unfit, to do the work of the warders? Would it not be much better economy if these men, who are not accustomed to look after prisons and prisoners, were left to their own occupations, and the prison warders, who take a long time to train and who are particularly efficient men, were kept at their own work? It is understood that a big reduction has been made in these men.
Mr. McKINNON WOODI am sorry I cannot give my hon. Friend any information. If he had given me notice I might have been prepared.
§ Question put, and agreed to.