§ 50. Captain BURGOYNEasked the Prime Minister whether men are ever sent by Employment Exchanges to firms re- 24 quiring labour as reinforcements and not as substitutes without the military authorities or the Department of National Service first being consulted in regard to their fitness for military service; and, if so, whether it will be ruled that no such reinforcements be made without agreement with both the National Service Department and the local substitution officer?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWThe Instructions issued to Employment Exchanges are intended to secure that so far as is necessary the military authorities are consulted before men who are apparently liable for military service are placed in employment. I fear I cannot see my way to increase the existing complication and difficulty of this matter by introducing into it the National Service Department and its local substitution officers.
§ 51. Captain BURGOYNEasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that on 24th May last seventeen men (discharged from the Staveley Works, Chesterfield, three days previously) were sent to the firm of Allwright and Wilson, of Oldbury, 80 miles distant, as reinforcements, when at that time the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company, at Chesterfield, had asked, at the request of the Ministry of Munitions, for twenty men as substitutes to release fit men for the Army; whether he is aware that of these seventeen men F. C. Neave and Arthur Mackent are nineteen years of age, A. Hallam, J. W. Taylor, and Thomas Birch are eighteen years of age, George Fawcett twenty-seven years of age, all single men and A category; whether any single man of the seventeen was asked his medical category prior to being engaged by Messrs. Allwright and Wilson; what are the medical categories of all these seventeen men; under what authority did Mr. Marsh, the manager of the Employment Exchange at Chesterfield, carry through the transaction; whether he is aware that Mr. Marsh is a Class A man and thirty years of age; whether Mr. Marsh personally accompanied a member of the firm of Allwright and Wilson to the Staveley Works to interview the men above mentioned; and, having regard to the provisions of the Defence of the Realm Act, what action he proposes to take in the matter?
§ The MINISTER of LABOUR (Mr. Hodge)I understand that fifteen men discharged from the Staveley Works, Chesterfield, were sent to Messrs. All- 25 bright and Wilson, of Oldbury, as reinforcements. There were not, at the time, any vacancies for substitutes with the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company, Chesterfield, in the possession of the local Employment Exchange. Of the fifteen men, one was over military age, two were of category C 2, one of category C3, and the remainder had not been medically classified. The suggestion in the question that five of the men were of medical category A is, therefore, incorrect; thirteen of the fourteen men of military age hold protection certificates as regards military service. Mr. Marsh, the manager of the local Employment Exchange, carried out this transaction in the course of his ordinary duties, and kept the military authorities fully informed of his action. As stated in the question, Mr. Marsh accompanied a representative of Messrs. Allbright to the Staveley Works to interview the men in question; and this procedure is obviously one which it is useful to follow wherever it can be arranged. No question of breach of the Defence of the Realm Act arises. Mr. Marsh is a Class A man, and is thirty years of age. He had repeatedly applied for permission to join the Army; but the Department, owing to the large number of the members of its staff who have joined the Forces, have been unable to accede to his request.
§ 52. Captain BURGOYNEasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that, on 24th May last, thirty furnacemen, whose services were not required by the Staveley Works, Chesterfield, were sent to Sheffield to work as reinforcements without the question of substitution being considered; and will he say whether any of these thirty men were offered to the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company with a view to releasing men eligible for the Army, as desired by the Ministry of Munitions?
§ Mr. HODGEThe men in question were tinplate workers who had been enrolled as Army Reserve Munition Workers, and under the arrangements made between the War Office and the Ministry of Munitions were available only for use as reinforcements in works specified by the Ministry of Munitions. In view of these arrangements, no question of substitution could arise, and the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company could not at the time have obtained the services of these men even as reinforcements, as this company was 26 not then on the list in the possession of the Exchanges giving the firms to which, by direction of the Ministry of Munitions, these men could be sent.
§ 53. Captain BURGOYNEasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the following men have been sent by the Employment Exchange at Chesterfield as reinforcements without regard being paid to substitution: A. Lander, aged thirty, Class A, and two other Class A men, to Sanders and Company, Isle of Wight; John Betts, aged thirty-three, David Jones, aged thirty-three, and A. Taylor, aged twenty-two, single, all Class A; whether he is aware that the above are all cabinet makers; and whether he will have inquiries made as to whether there has been a breach of the Defence of the Realm Act?
§ Mr. HODGEAll these men belong to skilled trades which are in urgent demand for aeroplane work and have enrolled as War Munitions Volunteers. I have no information with regard to the medical category of Lander or Taylor, but I understand that Betts and Jones are in category C 2 or C 3 and not in category A. Lander was transferred as a War Munition Volunteer to aeroplane work at the end of May. A proposal to transfer Betts and Jones to aeroplane work is suspended owing to a protest from their existing employer. Taylor has lodged an appeal with the Labour Enlistments Committee as regards his liability to military service, and pending a, decision no action is being taken in his case. In view of the urgent demand for skilled workmen in aeroplane work no' question of substitution would, under the arrangements with the War Office, arise in the ordinary course in eases of this description, and I see no ground for supposing that there has been a breach of the Defence of the Realm Act.