§ Mr. WATTasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the further demand for new recruits has induced his Department to relax the restriction placed on the men 545W of the Customs and Excise service on recruiting themselves in the fighting forces of the country; whether the Department has considered the possibility of female labour taking the place of those servants anxious to join the Army; whether there is any reason why the Customs and Excise Office should be treated differently in this respect from other Departments; and whether it is possible for women to do the clerical work in warehouses, in the Customs long rooms and on general Excise stations, where clerical work, owing to the new duties relating to separation allowances, is exceptionally heavy?
§ Mr. MONTAGUI would refer my hem. Friend to the answer given him on the 9th March, Arrangements have already been made to employ 100 women on clerical work at headquarters, and a special inquiry is in progress as regards the possibility of employing them away from headquarters.