§ 26. Mr. THOMASasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the locomotive men employed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company at Goole are paid off one day or more a week, and consequently find it very difficult to maintain a reasonable standard of life on less than a week's wages, whilst at the same time labour is urgently required on Government work in the district, but these railwaymen are not allowed to work elsewhere; that Goole is said to be the only place in the country where railwaymen are not permitted to work a full week at the present time; and, having regard to the guarantee of divi- 1638 dends which has been given to the railway companies, and also the fact that it is not in the national interest during this crisis that men should be forcibly kept idle, whether he will at once inquire into the matter, and at least ensure that these men shall be guaranteed not less than a full week's work and a full week's pay?
Mr. HARCOURTRepresentations have already been made to the Board of Trade on this subject, and I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of a letter in which the Department, after making inquiry, have written in reply.