§ 70. Mr. ANDERSONasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether Messrs. R. Ainsworth and Sons, Cleator Mills, Cleator Gate, Cleator, are contractors for the War Office; whether he is aware that this firm, which makes khaki and other thread used in the manufacture of uniforms, pays adult women workers a wage of 7s. to 8s. a week, with a bonus of 1s. to 2s. for 60 hours' work, and that the women sometimes work as many as eleven and twelve hours a day and suffer from 1142 overstrain and exhaustion; and whether, in view of the Fair-Wages Clause, he will cause investigation to be made with a view to a remedy?
Mr. BAKERThe firm in question holds contracts for the War Office. My attention has already been drawn to the labour conditions alleged to prevail at their works, and the matter is now being investigated.