§ Mr. WATTasked the Secretary to the Treasury what are the rates paid to copyists in the scrivenery department of the Royal Courts of Justice; are they paid a weekly wage or do they receive a certain price for so many words copied; if the latter, is a deduction made for management expenses; and have these copyists to stand by waiting for work when business is not forthcoming?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe writers in the Scrivenery Department are paid monthly for copying done, at the following rates:—
1421W
Per 100 folios of 72 words. Plain copying and examining the copy made 11 7 Plain copying without examining 9 8 Examining a copy brought in with the filed original 3 10 Copying on parchment and examining the copy made 15 5 These rates are higher than those paid by the best law stationers and payment is made to the writers without deduction of any kind. As is the case throughout the Law Writing trade, towards the end of the long vacation work is slack and the writers are not fully employed, but arrangements have been made in the Scrivenery Department, whereby each writer can take three weeks holiday without obtaining less work on the whole period than he would have obtained if he had taken no holiday.