§ 13. Sir PHILIP MAGNUSasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether a petition was received at the War Office in or about August, 1911, from the chemical staff of the Research Department of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich; whether any and, if so, what answer has been given to that petition; whether complaints have been made that the conditions of employment of expert chemists are so unsatisfactory that trained chemists are leaving the Research Department; and whether, with a view to fill a vacancy in that department, an advertisement was inserted in May last by the War Office in a periodical called "Nature," offering a salary of £100 a year for a competent assistant chemist, who was required to be a university graduate with analytical experience as a condition of appointment?
§ Mr. TENNANTThe petition was received and is still under consideration. Complaints that the present conditions of employment are unsatisfactory are contained in the petition, and some chemists have left the department to better themselves. The reply to the last part of the question is in the affirmative: £100 a year is the initial salary.
§ Sir P. MAGNUSIs it the custom of the War Office to leave petitions from an important body like the Research Department unanswered for ten months?
§ Mr. TENNANTI hope sincerely that that is not the practice of the War Office.
§ Sir P. MAGNUSMay I further ask why, in the advertisement to which I have referred and which I hold in my hand, there is no mention made of salary beyond £100; and is that the usual salary given by the War Office?
§ Mr. TENNANTOne hundred pounds is the initial salary, but some of these appointments, I understand, rise to £400 and £450.
§ Sir P. MAGNUSWill the hon. Gentleman state the amount of annual increment, and having regard to the importance of securing highly efficient—