Mr. CHANCELLORasked the Undersecretary of State for War whether Private Harold Hardy, late of the 2/6th Royal Sussex Regiment, was illegally awarded the punishment of 25 days' C.B. on the way to India by Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, for refusing inoculation; that a Government inquiry was promised and asserted to have been made, which actually was never made; "that Private Hardy brought a civil action against Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson at Bangalore and withdrew it on that officer's promise to transfer him and his comrade, Private Latham, whom he had illegally punished at the same time, either to the Mechanical Transport or the Royal Flying Corps, and to pay damages and the expenses incurred in the action; that Hardy was instead transferred to the 18th Rifle Brigade, Burma Division, and left to pay the expenses of the litigation without any compensation; whether, wishing to bring this breach of faith before the recognised and proper authority, Private Hardy wrote to General Rate, who commands the Burma Division, requesting that the promises of Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson should be carried out and that General Rate thereupon threatened him with court-martial if any further complaints. 1609 were made; whether a complaint made in accordance with A[...]y Regulations is now allowed to be treated as a crime; and if the Government will now at last take action, seeing that the whole record of this case has been one of broken pledges and false assurances concerning an alleged inquiry?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI am not aware that my right hon. Friend the then Undersecretary had any intention of making more than the inquiries which are usual when a question cannot be answered from the material available. My hon. Friend is therefore under a misapprehension in referring to broken pledges and false assurances. There is no information as to a civil action brought against Colonel Johnson, but reference has been made to India on this point. The action taken by Colonel Johnson was the subject of a very full inquiry by the authorities in India, and the matter was disposed of by them.