§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the practice of the German War Department is to order all their guns and gun mountings from private establishments, and that such Government orders are an important factor in competition by securing foreign orders as well to the firms in question; whether there is any Government establishment for manufacture of war material approaching the 17,000 men employed at Woolwich; and whether he can give the approximate figure of the largest establishment.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) I am aware that the main sources from which the German War Department obtain guns and gun mountings are private establishments. Other countries deal with them as I believe they do with private firms in this country. I am informed that the largest of the Government factories for the production of war material in Germany is at Spandau, and that, so far as is known, the number of workmen employed there is 6,300.