§ 7. Sir R. COOPERasked the Secretary to the Treasury if an application for a war bonus to meet the increased cost of living 1032 has been made to him by prison officers; if so, was the application refused; and will he say on what principle the Treasury pays a war bonus to the Metropolitan police, employés, on the railways, under the Admiralty, War Office, Ministry of Munitions, and all Civil servants in the direct pay of the Treasury, whilst prison officers are refused a similar concession?
§ Mr. MONTAGUAn application for the grant of a war bonus to meet the increased cost of living has been received from prison officers and has been refused. With the exception of certain classes of employés (mostly workmen) under the War Departments and Post Office employés covered by the Woodhouse awards, n" classes of Civil servants have been granted such a bonus, and the Treasury has been unable to make any exception in favour of prison officers whose salary and emoluments compare favourably with those enjoyed by many other classes of Civil servants. The Treasury is in no way responsible for the war bonus to the Metropolitan police, and only incidentally concerned in that given to the railway employés.