Dr Thomas Shiels: 47. asked the Prime Minister whether the British Government have refused to give information to the League of Nations of a, kind which other Governments have given, regarding alleged slavery conditions in certain areas for which Britain is responsible
Dr Thomas Shiels: My right hon. Friend who has just spoken has covered pretty well the grounds of our objection to this Bill. We do not object to the Bill for what is in it, but for what has been left out of it, and our only method of registering our protest is to take the action which the light hon. Gentleman has suggested. Surely it is not an unreasonable thing to have a provision ill the Bill that when, in...
Dr Thomas Shiels: 39. asked the Secretary for Scotland how many tubercle-free dairy herds there are in Scotland, and where they are situated?
Dr Thomas Shiels: Could not the right hon. Gentleman see his way to get these figures, as they are of considerable importance
Dr Thomas Shiels: I beg to move, to leave out from the word, "That," to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof the words in the opinion of this House, the opening of a broader avenue of promotion in the Army and the abolition of fees at military colleges, to enable the sons of working-class parents to take advantage of the training provided, would promote efficiency in all ranks. I wish first to...
Dr Thomas Shiels: There are various classes. I am not able to go into them all now, but they are detailed on page 57 of the Estimates. Those cadets who have no Army connection, who are not the sons of officers, have to pay the highest fees, £200. The result is that lower middle class, and working-class children, whose fathers have not been officers, are practically prevented from gaining entrance to the...
Dr Thomas Shiels: I was about to say that there is a discrepancy between those figures and the figures of Lord Haldane's Committee. That Committee said that from 1919 to 1922, there were no promotions from the ranks. I do not know why there is that discrepancy, but it certainly exists. In regard to the number of men in the Army who are qualified for promotion, l must say something. There have been very great...
Dr Thomas Shiels: I should like to explain that I was a loyal member of my party when I was a serving soldier.
Dr Thomas Shiels: I am sorry to interrupt the hon. and gallant Gentleman, but is it not the case that working-class or middle-class entrants whose fathers were not either officers or serving in the Army, have to pay the highest fee of £200?
Dr Thomas Shiels: Will the hon. and gallant Gentleman comment on my point regarding Woolwich, and why it is not open to these junior cadets in the same way as Sandhurst?
Dr Thomas Shiels: 76. asked the Secretary for Scotland if, in making the appointment of any new salaried sheriff-substitute in Scotland, he will keep in mind Section 12 of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act, 1907, which provides that the qualification is that of advocate or law agent of five years' standing; and will he seriously consider whether an eligible law agent should not be appointed?
Dr Thomas Shiels: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there are over 3,000 law agents and advocates in Scotland, and only about 200 of them are members of the Faculty of Advocates, and that these appointments are given invariably to the members of the Faculty of Advocates?
Dr Thomas Shiels: 79. asked the President of the Board of Trade the crude death rates in the merchant marine of British, of foreign, and of Lascar seamen from pneumonia, from phthisis, from all other diseases, and from accidents and injuries of all kinds for each of the three years 1920, 1921, and 1922?
Dr Thomas Shiels: 75. asked the Secretary for Scotland if he is aware that an old woman, an old age pensioner, aged 75, was last week fined £3, with the option of 14 days' imprisonment, at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for failing to disclose an income of 26s. per month; and will he consider the case with a view to a revision of the sentence?
Dr Thomas Shiels: In view of this and other similar cases will the right hon. Gentleman try to persuade the Chancellor of the Exchequer to follow up the good work of the Labour Government and abolish the means limit altogether?
Dr Thomas Shiels: I should like to associate myself with those who have expressed appreciation of the Under-Secretary's statement at the beginning of our sitting. He brought forward very many interesting facts, and it is difficult, in the short time which, by a self-denying ordinance, the members of this party have imposed upon themselves, to go over anything like the ground which he has covered. I propose to...
Dr Thomas Shiels: The bovine tubercle, which is almost entirely transmitted through milk, does not cause pulmonary tuberculosis. It does not affect the lungs but it may cause any other of the various forms I have mentioned, which are very often called by the general term of surgical tuberculosis.
Dr Thomas Shiels: I have already given the figures. I think if the right hon. Gentleman will look at the OFFICIAL REPORT to-morrow, ho will see that I have given, from the Report of the Edinburgh Medical Officer of Health, the proportion of tuberculosis due to the bovine tubercle. I should like to refer to the rather unpleasant subject of venereal diseases. I wish to ask if anything has been done to carry out...
Dr Thomas Shiels: I am not able wholly to support the Amendment. I have on the Paper an Amendment proposing that these payments, unless otherwise determined, should terminate at the end of 40 years. I had hoped to have a Division on my Amendment, but I understand the more heroic one has been preferred; therefore I do not propose to delay the House very long with comments on my Amendment. I would like to say,...
Dr Thomas Shiels: I beg to second the Amendment. The hon. Member represents one side of the Forth, and I represent the other. We oppose this Bill on the same ground, that it is not in the public interest. We believe whatever may be said about other services, that in this particular instance the interest of the railway company and the interest of the public are not the same. I am glad that we have present...
