HC Deb 11 May 1916 vol 82 cc999-1000

Where an officer or man of the Territorial Force has, before or after the passing of this Act, accepted liability to serve in any place out of the United Kingdom, that liability shall continue, notwithstanding anything in the conditions of service, during the continuance of the present War, unless the competent military authority as denned for the purposes of Part II. of the Army Act otherwise direct.

Question proposed, "That the Clause stand part of the Bill."

Mr. KING

I cannot allow a Clause like this to go without protest. It is another of those contracts solemnly made, on the basis of which many men have come forward. These contracts are now to be torn up. Many men have joined the Territorial Force and have volunteered to go and fight at the front, a duty which they never really contemplated when they entered the Force. For many months they have been doing that duty and have been in danger, and yet now they are to be told that up to the end of the War they are to be continued in this position. Considering the tone and spirit in which our protests are received, and in which suggestions for a mitigation of these hardships are dealt with, I feel bound not to let this occasion pass without calling attention to the fact that once again we are breaking a solemn contract, and thereby involving the men concerned in great hardships. These things make me more and more convinced that the Bill as a whole is a great mistake, and will not improve the spirit of the men in the Army.

Mr. BARLOW

I want to say one word about this matter because it has created a certain amount of discussion in the ranks of the Territorials. What this pro- posal does really is to put the Territorial soldier in the same position as any other serving soldier; it secures that the Territorial as a result of his contract is not in a privileged position. I agree it goes against the grain when men who have taken upon themselves the great sacrifice of enlisting for foreign service have their contracts altered in any way to their detriment, but all we are doing by this Clause is to put the Territorial on the same footing as the man who enlisted in the new Army, and in these circumstances we are not really inflicting a hardship upon him, we are only securing he shall not be in a privileged position. Surely that is a reasonable proposition.

Question put, and agreed to.