Mr. 'Lloyd George moved the second reading of the Army
Act Amendment Bill in the House of Commons on Monday. The object of the Bill, he explained, was to compel the attend- ance of civilian witnesses and to enable certain -members to sit on Military Courts of Inquiry. The Bill, he added, had.been. Intro- duced because of circumstances brought to his notice largely through the instrumentality of the late Sir Arthur Markham,whose courage and independence he warmly acknowledged. The charges made involved not only the honour of soldiers, especially that of a young Irish Roman Catholic_ soldier, but civilians as well ; indeed, the representations made to him appeared to show that civilians were primarily the culprits. The matter had been investigated by the Prime Minister, Lord. Kitchener, and himself, and it had been decided that this was the best way of dealing with the matter. In the course of a long discussion, Mr. Lloyd George's appeal to the House not to call for the facts was in the main scrupulously regarded, criticism being chiefly directed to the -section confining civilian representation on these Military Courts of Inquiry to members of either House. The Bill was read a second-time, passed through the Committee stage, Mr. Lloyd George accepting an amendment empowering any civilian to be nominated for Military Courts of Inquiry, and was reported to the House and read a third time.
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