§ Mr. SNOWDENasked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that many military representatives at tribunals have stated that, in the case of a man who has been twice examined by a medical board or by two boards and a difference exists in the classifications so given, that in all such cases the first examination must stand, and whether any Army Order to such effect has been' given; if so, will he state on what grounds it is assumed that a man's first examination necessarily discloses his permanent state of health and that a man's altered state of health, as disclosed by a second examination, is to be disregarded, or whether it is assumed that in all such cases the second medical board has been in error; and whether the War Office will issue instructions giving an applicant who produces two conflicting classification cards, as results of examinations on different dates, the right of appeal to the Central Medical Board?
§ Mr. FORSTERIt transpired that for a time certain persons, in the desire to avoid service, were going before several medical boards, sometimes after taking drugs. It, therefore, became a practice among military representatives to accept the opinion of the first board as most reliable. The practice of going before several boards has now been stopped, and the question is not likely to arise in future cases.