§ Mr. PETO (by Private Notice)asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact 799 that officers and men of the merchant service are being served with yellow notices calling upon them to join the Army on certain dates; whether he can state what instructions have been issued by his Department that these men should be exempt or excepted from the provisions of the Military Service Act, and what steps he proposes to take to carry out the undertaking given to this effect?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of TRADE (Mr. Runciman)I understand that in some cases officers and men of the merchant service have been served with notices to join the Army. They are, however, included in the list of certified occupations, and the Board of Trade are already in communication with the War Office as to the most effective means of dealing with the matter.
§ Mr. PETODoes the right hon. Gentleman intend that all these officers and men of the mercantile service should attend before the tribunals in exactly the same way as everybody else before they can get any exception or exemption from the Act?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANThat is one of the questions upon which we are now in communication with the War Office. I cannot make any statement on that at the moment. It was certainly not my intention that officers and men of the mercantile marine should necessarily appear before the tribunals.