§ SIR BEVAN EDWARDS (Hythe)I beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office, with reference to the appointment of Mr. Donaldson as Deputy Director of the Ordnance Factories, inasmuch as the London Docks, where he was employed, are not a manufacturing firm, will he state where Mr. Donaldson practised as a mechanical engineer, and in what establishment did he obtain his experience in the organisation, control, and management of a factory; whether Mr. Donaldson has superseded a military officer, Colonel E. Bainbridge, C.B., who has served for many years in posts affording 152 him special opportunities of becoming acquainted with the manufacture of warlike stores; whether he is aware that Colonel Bainbridge has managed for the last five and a-half years, with great ability, the largest of the Ordnance Factories, employing 7,000 men, with an annual output of nearly £1,000,000; and, whether Colonel Bainbridge, who was recently made a C.B. for his services in charge of the above-mentioned factory, receives only £950 a year, after 37 years' service, whereas Mr. Donaldson is to receive £1,500 a year?
MR. POWELL-WILLIAMSIn the appointment formerly held by Mr. Donaldson, he was responsible for the construction in whole and in part, and for the repair, of machinery of a very varied kind, including lathes, hydraulic appliances, electric machinery (lighting and power), cranes, bridges, engines, boilers, and the like. He had under his control a large staff of smiths, fitters, boilermen, carpenters, and machine men. Sir William Anderson, who visited the slums before Mr. Donaldson was selected, was satisfied that his experience was such as to fully qualify him for the post which he now holds. As regards the military officer referred to, his ago does not give him an expectation of service, such as was thought desirable in one holding the appointment of Deputy Director General, and, moreover, it was thought to be necessary to seek the services of a gentleman who had experience other than that gained in the Ordnance Factories. His emoluments are £1,050 a year; and if the design branch, which it is proposed to establish at Woolwich, is authorised, he will shortly receive a substantial promotion.