§ Mr. KINGasked the Home Secretary whether any relaxation of conditions or special concessions may be made, in approved cases, to Austrian prisoners of war, seeing that hostilities with Austria have ceased; whether it is intended to keep all Austrian prisoners in their present conditions till the end of the war with Germany, or till peace with the dual monarchy or such new governments as take its place is finally ratified; and whether he has considered the case of a man who has a son serving in the British combatant forces since he enlisted voluntarily in 1915, and who is himself in a position of trust in the Censor's office in the Alexandra Palace camp?
§ Mr. BRACEI have considered this matter, but I think that the existing conditions under which Austrian subjects are now restricted and controlled in this country must remain as they are for the present. As regards the person referred to in the last part of the question, he is not an Austrian, but a German, who before his internment was a hairdresser in London. He was interned on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee in 1915, and I see no sufficient reason for authorising his release.