§ Mr. KINGasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that Mr. S. Calmon, of 162, Church Street, Paddington, a Russian subject, offered himself for military service at the outbreak of war but was refused as being an alien; that he attested in October and has now appealed for temporary exemption to the tribunal; that on Saturday, 25th November, he was apprehended and kept in custody as being an absentee; that he was detained for forty-eight hours at Paddington Green Police Station; that his friends went to the War Office and discovered there that a mistake had been made; that the police at Paddington Green, being so informed by the War Office over the telephone, refused to liberate Calmon; that he was insulted by disgusting epithets being cast at him by the police inspector and sergeant; that on Monday, 27th November, Calmon was liberated at the Marylebone Police Court, no charge being made against him; whether, in view of these facts, he will order an inquiry; and whether he will 671W instruct the Metropolitan Police that the treatment of patriotic aliens must be tactful and reasonable?
Mr. SAMUELThe Commissioner of Police informs me that the police acted throughout in this case on the instructions of the military authority; and that there is no foundation for the allegation that they used insulting and disgusting epithets. The police have standing instruction to treat all persons with the utmost civility, forbearance, and good temper.