§ MR. BRANCH (Middlesex, Enfield)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the bayonet department, Enfield, has come to an 158 almost total standstill; if so, will he state the reasons, and when it may be anticipated that orders will be placed in this department; and what orders have been placed for bayonets to the trade and Government factories during the last seven years and the comparative cost.
(answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) Work in the bayonet shops at Enfield is I necessarily suspended during consideration of the pattern of bayonet to be adopted for the short rifle. No discharges are being made in the bayonet s shop, as the men are being absorbed on rifle work. As regards the orders and the comparative cost my hon. friend will find the information for the years 1899 to 1904 in the Return presented in 1905 [Cd. 2431]. The figures for the period 1904 to 1906 are as follows:—
| Ordnance Factories. | Trade. | |
| Orders | 65,974 | 44,772 |
| Average Cost | 8s. l¾d. | 9s. 8d. |