§ Mr. COTTONasked the President of the Board of Trade how many of the miners released from military service since 1st August last are now at work at the pits?
Sir A. STANLEYThe number of miners who have been released from the Army for coal mining and have reported at the coal mines since the 1st May, 1918, is 26,910. No exact figures are available to me as to the number since the 1st August, but it may fairly be estimated that about 20,000 have been released, and have reported since that date. There are also about 300 who have been released from the Navy and the Air Force for the same purpose. Apart from sickness and accident, it is believed that all the men who have reported at the coal mines are now at work there.