§ Mr. GROVESasked the Secretary of State for War whether it is still an obligation upon entrants for the Service that they shall be vaccinated before actual enlistment; whether he is aware that as the proportion of persons vaccinated has been reduced so the deaths from smallpox has correspondingly decreased; and whether, therefore, as members of His Majesty's Forces live generally under sanitary and good conditions, he will remove any obligation to vaccination?
§ Captain KINGThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part of the question, the statistics show that as the deaths from smallpox have diminished, so the demand for infantile vaccination has declined. My right hon. Friend is not prepared to remove the present obligation of recruits in regard to vaccination.