§ Lord C. BERESFORDasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the labourers employed at His Majesty's gun-wharf at Portsmouth received an addition to their pay of 1s. a week from the 1st April, 1911; whether labourers employed in the third and sixth divisional ammunition 2538 columns have not received this addition; whether the reason is that these men belong to the Army Reserve; and, seeing that the men think that they are paying a penalty for their service to the State, whether he will take their case into favourable consideration?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the WAR OFFICE (Mr. H. J. Tennant)No general increase in the wages of unskilled labourers at Portsmouth has been made from the 1st April last, but the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief was authorised to grant increases at his discretion up to one shiling a week for work requiring some degree of skill, experience or responsibility. I do not know whether it is the fact that no labourer employed with these ammunition columns received any increase: but the fact that these men belong to the Army Reserve would not be taken into account in fixing their wages.