§ MR. FENWICK (Northumberland, Wansbeck)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the wages of the carpenters employed in Her Majesty's Dockyards at Plymouth and Devonport, in the Department of the Director of Works, have been reduced; if so, to what extent; and whether he can state what are the wages paid to carpenters in the Chief Constructor's Department, and the hours of labour as compared with the wages and hours of those employed in 149 the Department of the Director of Works?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Lord G. HAMILTON, Middlesex, Ealing)No reduction has been made in the wages of the carpenters employed in the Department of the Director of Works at Her Majesty's Dockyards. The wages paid to carpenters in the Chief Constructor's Department are, to established men, 4s. 6d. a day, and to hired men, 4s. to 4s. 10d. a day; and to men in the Director of Works' Department 3s. 8d. to 4s. 6d. a day, according to the qualifications of the workmen. The hours vary according to the time of year, but they average 8½ to 9½ hours in the Constructor's and Works Departments respectively. After the 1st of April there will be a closer assimilation of the hours of these two Departments.