§ CAPTAIN NORTONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether his attention was called, in October, 1900, to the fact that a firm at Bristol holding contracts from the War Office and Admiralty was not paying the 579 current rate of wages in the locality; and whether he can state what steps, if any, were taken in connection with the matter, and with what result.
§ MR. BRODRICKMy attention was called to this case. An official was sent to investigate the case. The firm stated in defence that they used machinery to a larger extent than usual, and that therefore skilled labour was not so essential. The War Office considered that the wages clause had been infringed, and warned the firm that very serious notice would be taken of any future infringement of the clause. A second case having arisen in 1901, the firm was struck off the list for six months.