§ Sir P. MAGNUSasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether the Board, like other Government Departments, have applied or propose to apply to the War Office or to the Military Prisoners of War Allocation Committee for German prisoners to be employed directly by the Board upon any scheme for the cultivation of at present uncultivated land, the manning of peripatetic motor or steam-ploughing plant, threshing machines, and engines, or other agricultural machinery or otherwise, with a view to the greater output and availability of home-grown food either in 1917 or 1918; and, if so, will he give particulars?
§ Sir R. WINFREYThe Board have no power themselves to employ military prisoners for the purposes indicated, and consequently have not applied to the War Office or to the Military Prisoners of War Allocation Committee for the allocation of such prisoners. They have, however, been for a long time past in communication with the War Office and the Home Office in the endeavour to obtain, under suitable conditions, the services of both military and civilian prisoners for work under private employers on the land, and I hope to be able to make an early statement on the subject.