§ 3. Mr. KINGasked the Under-Secretary of State for War the number of conscientious objectors who have been handed over to a civil public prison; how many, if any, still remain undergoing sentences of detention in military prisons; and how many, if any, who were sentenced to military detention have been removed from military prisons before completing their terms of sentence?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Mr. Tennant)The statistics asked for are not in my possession, and much time and labour would be involved in the process of obtaining them. The removal of soldiers undergoing detention would only be effected by a draft going over seas, or by remission of sentence; such soldiers could not be removed to a civil prison.
§ 4. Mr. KINGasked whether instructions have been issued to tribunals how to deal with applications for variation of certificates of exemption from non-combatant service; if so, in what sense have these instructions been given; and whether men in the Non-Combatant Corps will now be able to apply for variation of their certificates so as to place them in an equal position with those who have more recently been before tribunals?
§ Mr. TENNANTTribunals do not receive instructions from the Army Council, but from the Local Government Board. Men who are soldiers cannot appeal to tribunals.