HC Deb 05 August 1918 vol 109 cc914-6
60. Sir HENRY CRAIK

asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the Admiralty is responsible for the increased stringency of the conditions under which passports are issued for women and children passing overseas; and whether he is prepared to make a statement as to the present position of this matter?

Dr. MACNAMARA

I will circulate the answer in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

The following is the statement referred to:—

The Admiralty, as the Department of State solely responsible for the safety of vessels at sea and as the only Department with a full knowledge of the submarine situation and of the dangers involved by sea voyages, take full responsibility for stating that it is essential during the War to restrict severely the travelling of women and children overseas.

The grounds on which the Admiralty have considered it necessary to obtain the concurrence of all the Government Departments concerned to this restriction are as follows:

  1. (a) The presence of women and children on board ship at the present time adds very considerably to the responsibility and anxiety of the master, and seriously hampers his freedom of action in attacking an enemy vessel if met with.
  2. (b) Should a vessel carrying women and children be torpedoed, the necessity of saving the women and children very materially reduces the chance of saving any military or naval ranks on board, and leads to the loss of merchant seamen who might otherwise have been saved, and makes a demand upon the self-sacrifice and chivalry of the men which ought not to be imposed upon them.
  3. (c) It is considered essential that vessels carrying women and children through the danger zone should be protected whenever possible. Unless the numbers to be carried be severely restricted, sufficient protection could only be given by withdrawing protection from vessels carrying troops or essential supplies on which the country depends.
  4. (d) The presence of women and children on board ship has recently necessitated a complete convoy being taken into port in order that the women, whose nerves had been seriously affected by the sinking of ships in company, might be sent home overland.
  5. (e) The risk of drowning to the women and children themselves, which is obviously greater than for men.

The necessity for restricting the travelling of women and children overseas being therefore unquestionable, the Admiralty have, with the assistance and complete concurrence of all the Departments of State concerned, framed certain rules, under which no women or children under the age of sixteen years may travel by sea through the danger zone. The exceptions to this are women on duty and very urgent cases in which the refusal to grant a passport would involve great hardship. In such exceptional cases, children would not be refused permits to accompany their mothers, if necessary.

These rules are administered at home by the Departments concerned, and overseas by their representatives, but in order to ensure consistent treatment, all cases in which the refusal to issue a passport might involve great hardship are referred for decision to an Interdepartmental Committee, of which the Admiralty representative is chairman, and passports are issued by the Foreign Office upon the Committee's recommendation only.

It will, therefore, be seen that while the Admiralty accept entire responsibility for drawing attention to the necessity for restricting the travelling of women and children overseas, the Departments of State are equally responsible for the framing and administration of these Rules, while the responsibility for deciding cases of hardship rests with the Interdepartmental Passport Committee. Further, as stated by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of Blockade, in the House on the 5th February, 1918, the restriction on women and children travelling overseas, save in exceptional cases of urgent necessity, was laid down with the approval of the War Cabinet.