§ MR. S. WOODSI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War if his attention has been called to the alleged grievances of the workmen employed at the Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham Abbey; whether he has read the correspondence which passed between the workmen's secretary and Mr. Ormsby, the superintendent, in October last; whether he is aware that this gentleman refused to meet a deputation of the workmen affected to discuss their grievances; whether he will state the reasons for such refusal; and whether the permanent officials at the factory would now be willing to meet a deputation of the men to discuss existing grievances?
MR. POWELL-WILLIAMSColonel Ormsby, the superintendent at the Waltham Factory, has not refused to consider representations as to grievances brought forward, in the manner prescribed by the regulations, by any workman considering himself aggrieved; but he has declined to receive a deputation from an outside organisation called the Government Workers' Federation. The factory is peculiarly one in which strict discipline and adherence to the rules is necessary for the safety of the men employed, and in the control of which interference cannot be permitted.