§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Home Secretary whether Clause 1 of the Hague treaty closing Holzminden and Clausthal camps was agreed to because it was admitted by the German delegates that these camps were unfit for officers' prisons; and whether the Government has since made any demand for the closing of these camps?
§ Sir G. CAVENo such admission as is mentioned in the question was made by the German delegates. The Article referred to was the result of complaints, not so much against the material conditions at these camps as against the conduct of the general in command of the district and the commandants of the camps. It is understood that the officer in question has now been removed from his command, and His Majesty's Government has informed the German Government that unless the provisions of this Clause are put into force at once and the commandants at Holzminden and Clausthal are in future excluded from contact with our prisoners of war, measures of reprisal will be adopted.