§ Sir J. HARMOOD-BANNERasked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will say why at Kempton Park a number 947W of men classed A have been retained at 6s. per day in this country and have not been sent to the front, some of whom have come from ironworks and offices, and, if not required for the front, would be suitable for substitution in important home work; under what circumstances mechanics who have been called up from employment at high wages are now retained at Kemp-ton Park and receiving Is. 2d. per day, whereas Germans in large numbers employed on similar work receive 4d. to 5d. per hour; and, seeing that this differential treatment in wages is not conducive to the active energies of the soldiers employed at low wages, will he state what action he proposes to take'
§ Mr. FORSTERThe total number of men drawing 6s. a day at Kempton Park depot is twenty-one, of whom four are noncommissioned officers. They are all specially selected and skilled tradesmen engaged on important work. I am not aware what Germans my hon. Friend has in mind, but the figures given are misleading, as they omit on the one hand various emoluments of the soldier and on the other the deduction from the pay of a civilian alien who is charged for his keep.