§ 70. Mr. MACMASTERasked the hon. Member for Sheffield (Central Division) what are the actual Regulations with regard to the sending of parcels, letters, and money to the British prisoners in the hands of the Turks; what facilities there are for ensuring the deliveries to the prisoners; whether he is aware that some of the officers that surrendered at Kut are writing to their relatives that they have received no pay for four months; that the payments previously received from the 982 Red Cross have been stopped; that, for lack of money to buy food at exorbitant prices, officers are seen hawking their under-garments in the bazaars, trying to sell them in order to get food; that their clothing is reduced to the lowest possible standard; and that relatives of prisoners are most anxious to send money and comforts if there is any reasonable hope that these will reach the prisoners; and whether arrangements will be made, through the intervention of the Swiss and Spanish authorities, for effecting deliveries to our countrymen, who are evidently suffering grave privations in Turkey?
§ Mr. JAMES HOPE (Lord of the Treasury)The answer to this question is a very long one, and I propose to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ The following is the answer referred to:
§ Full facilities exist for the dispatch of parcels, letters, and money to British prisoners of war in Turkish hands. The actual Regulations on the subject are rather too voluminous for quotation, but I shall have pleasure in supplying the hon. Member with them, if he should desire it.
§ The facilities for ensuring their delivery to the prisoners are naturally a matter of Turkish administration, and suffer from its shortcomings. Parcels are forwarded through the agency of the Ottoman Red Crescent, as also are the remittances sent through the Netherlands Legation at Constantinople. Letters are forwarded through the Turkish postal and military authorities.
§ His Majesty's Government have received, from private sources, quotations from letters written by British officers in Turkey to the effect stated by the hon. Member. They have for some time past been much concerned at the hardships suffered by British prisoners owing to economic conditions in Turkey, and to the difficulties of supply from this country, and they have taken steps, by authorising a suitable increase, in cases of need, of the relief allowances issued by the Netherlands. Minister at Constantinople, to alleviate these hardships as far as possible. This method is, however, not altogether satisfactory, owing to the depreciation of Turkish currency out of all proportion to the rates at which it is possible to remit from this country, and to the extraordinary rise in the prices of all necessaries in Turkey. It is, therefore, hoped to 983 dispatch bulk supplies by the vessel which is to effect repatriations under the Berne Agreement—if, indeed, it should not prove possible to send such supplies at an earlier date overland. I am glad to say that I have not heard of any instance in which a remittance sent to a British prisoner through the Netherlands Legation has been lost, although such have frequently been greatly delayed. Parcels, it is true, have frequently been lost, and their transmission through Austria has periodically been suspended by the Austro-Hungarian Government. The Berne Agreement provides, as far as it is possible to provide, for the improvement in the parcel service in Turkey, and His Majesty's Government are addressing the strongest representations to the Government of Austria Hungary respecting the suspension of the service through that country. The representation of British interests at Constantinople is in charge of the Netherlands Minister, and neither the Swiss nor the Spanish Governments are, therefore, concerned with the subject in question.
§ Mr. MACMASTERWill the hon. Gentleman permit me to put some documents before him in connection with this matter?
§ Sir J. D. REESMay I ask the hon. Gentleman whether a regular daily post is a feature of Turkish administration in Asia Minor at any time?