MR. DALZIEL (, &c.) KirkcaldyI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether in the contract held by Messrs. Pocock Brothers, of Southwark Bridge Road, for the supply of boots for the use of the Metropolitan Police, there is any understanding that the wages paid in the carrying out of the contract shall be in accordance with the terms of the Resolution of the House; and is he aware that a portion of the work is done at the employees' own homes at wages which return them less than threepence per hour?
§ *MR. MATTHEWSThe contract with Messrs. Pocock Brothers for the supply of boots for the use of the Metropolitan Police contains a clause which embodies the conditions of the Resolution passed by this House on 13th February, 1891. That portion of the work referred to in the second paragraph of the question known as "clos- 41 ing the uppers," is paid for at the rate of threepence halfpenny per pair of boots, and at this rate a good workman can earn from fifteen shillings to twenty shillings a week. This work, according to the custom of the trade, is always done at the homes of the workpeople, and for it there is no recognised rate of wages current in the trade. The work is generally done in country villages by boys, girls, and women.