§ 66. Mr. TIMOTHY DAVIESasked the Minister of Munitions if he has completed his inquiry with regard to the alleged waste of time in Woolwich Arsenal; and, if so, whether he is now prepared to give the result of that inquiry?
§ Mr. KELLAWAYMy hon. Friend's question refers to some statements made in a letter published by a member of the New South Wales Parliament and written to him by a young Australian engineer, who stated that he had been working at Woolwich Arsenal from November, 1916, until a recent date. This letter contained a number of sweeping and very serious allegations against the workmen employed at Woolwich Arsenal and, incidentally, against the management.
In view of the gravity of the charges, affecting as they do the credit of our greatest national arsenal and of the publicity given to them, I thought it necessary to order an immediate and most searching investigation. The results of that investigation have now reached me. It is impossible to bring them within the limits of an oral answer even by a severe summary. I will have the answer circulated with the OFFICIAL REPORT, but I think it only fair to the authorities and to the workmen at Woolwich Arsenal to say that the investigation has proved that the statements in the letter were either without foundation or grossly exaggerated.
§ The following is the Written Reply: