§ Lord CHARLES BERESFORDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the increase in the price of clothing in the naval service does away with the value of the increase lately made in the pay of the men; and, seeing that, taking an average all round, the men would be out of pocket during an interval of, say, three years, will he take their case into further consideration?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThere is no justification whatever for the imputation that, because the issuing prices of certain articles of clothing are higher this year, the Admiralty is endeavouring to recoup itself for the recent extension of the system of free kits and improvements in 49W the pay of the lower deck by making a profit on the clothing sold to the men, The scale of prices referred to by the Noble Lord is the annual price list of the articles of clothing which may be taken up by the men from Government stocks. These prices represent the actual cost price in the current year of the clothing purchased by the Admiralty, with the addition of the regulation percentage to cover establishment charges, that is the cost to the public of receiving, examining, storing, and handling the goods. The prices are revised annually on the basis of the contract prices, and the new prices come into existence on 1st July at home and 1st October abroad. It is true that this year the issuing prices of certain materials and the clothing made from them have risen, notably in the case of the articles most largely taken up by the men —serge, duck, flannel, boots, jerseys, stockings, socks; but this is unavoidable, being due to the rise in the contract prices this year. In a few cases prices have gone down, and in others they remain the same, but the general effect of the revised prices is that the men will have to pay rather more for clothes taken up from Government stocks this year than they did last year. It is not anticipated, however, that this will come to more than 5s. or 6s. on the average.