§ Mr. STEWARTasked the hon. Member for Sheffield (Central Division) whether the Mercantile Marine officers who are domiciled at hotels at Rijswijk, Holland, are required to pay two gulden a day each in addition to the three gulden a day allowed by the British Government; 1401W whether the sixty gulden per month advanced by the British Government is to be regarded debt which they are expected to repay; and whether, in view of the fact that quite a number of these interned shipmasters and officers have never had a penny from their owners while in Germany, he can release them from any liability of the kind?
§ Mr. WARDLEMy hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. The Board of Trade are making inquiries into the payments for subsistence by Mercantile Marine officers interned in Holland, and are now in communication with the Treasury and with other Departments concerned on the provision of allowances for subsistence, and on the question of relieving these officers from financial liability incidental to their internment.