§ 5. Mr. EVELYN CECILasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in the case of the 2,000 British 290 prisoners of war recently transferred from Germany to the parts of Russian territory in the occupation of German troops, as a reciprocal measure for the transfer of German prisoners from England to France, the German Government has yet afforded facilities to the staff of the American Embassy in Berlin to visit the working camps for inspection or given information as to the districts to which the prisoners have been sent and the work on which they are employed; whether such inspections have actually taken place; and whether he is satisfied that the conditions prevailing are as good as those for the German prisoners transferred from England to France?
§ Sir E. GREYWe have no official information beyond that contained in White Paper, Miscellaneous, No. 19 (1916). We have recently asked the United States Ambassador to obtain further information and to endeavour to arrange for an inspection of the prisoners at the earliest possible date; with regard to the last part of the question, a number of letters and postcards from prisoners have been communicated to us in which the writers complain of the severity of their treatment, and we are communicating the substance of these complaints to the American Embassy for inquiry, and asking for the same facilities of inspection and conditions of treatment as are given to the German prisoners by us.