§ Mr. JOWETTasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that Mr. C. H. Norman has been in litigation since October, 1915, with Sir Charles Matthews and Sir William Nott Bower in connection with certain seizures of documents, the property of Mr. Norman, under the Defence of the Realm (Consolidation) Regulatons; whether he is aware that the Committee on Employment of Conscientious Objectors has refused any opportunity to Mr. Norman to take further steps in this litigation, which Mr. Norman has had to conduct himself since his solicitor was arrested at the instance of the public authorities, who are defendants in this and other suits in which Mr. Norman is plaintiff; and whether he will take steps to put an end to these tactics by public authorities who are utilising their powers for the purpose of preventing Mr. Norman exercising his rights as a citizen to obtain the audience, to which he is entitled, of the Courts of Justice?
Mr. SAMUELMy right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. As I stated in reply to a question by the hon. Member on the 8th instant, no obstacle will be placed in the way of Mr. Norman's consulting a legal adviser at Warwick or from utilising his spare time in preparing180W for any legal proceedings he may have pending in the Courts. I cannot, however, accept the proposition that the mere fact that a person subject to the Military Service Acts has initiated legal proceedings, whether against a public authority or a private individual, should entitle him to be released either temporarily or permanently from the obligation to perform military service, or, as in the case of Mr. Norman, work of national importance as an alternative to military service.