Major DAVIESasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the fact that orders have been given by the officials of the Great Western Railway Company at Paddington to the porters employed at that station, many of whom are discharged soldiers, relating to the carrying of luggage and other effects belonging to German officers who are prisoners of war; whether any instructions have been issued by the War Office to the railway companies in regard to this matter; and what steps he proposes to take to ensure that in future no discharged or wounded soldiers will be requested to handle the luggage of German officers?
Mr. J. HOPEI am informed by the military authorities and the Board of Trade that no such orders or instructions as are referred to in this question have been issued either by the War Office or by the railway authorities.