§ SIR WILLIAM EVANS GORDON (Tower Hamlet, Stepney)To ask the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been drawn to the distress prevailing in Woolwich owing to slackness of work in and discharges from the Royal Arsenal; and whether, in view of the fact that the approach of winter is likely to render this distress more acute, any steps are in contemplation for providing work for these men.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) As I have already explained, discharges at Woolwich Arsenal have, unfortunately, been inevitable in view of the reduction of requirements since the termination of the war. I am doing all in my power to make the reductions as gradual and light as is consistent with my duty to the public generally.