§ Mr. HOUSTONasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the situation being brought about by the diminished output of coal from the mines, thereby affecting the prosecution of the War, our Allies, our industries, our export trade, and the comfort and convenience of our people; whether, seeing that this shortage of output is due to an insufficiency of men to work the mines, he will urge upon the Government the necessity of bringing back immediately from the Army the older miners; and whether this is now possible in view of the reinforcements to the Army being landed almost daily in France?
§ Mr. WARDLEI am aware of the diminished output of coal and of its possible consequences, against which, however, must be set the main cause of the diminution, namely, the pressing military necessity of the withdrawal of 75,000 miners for the Army. The Army Council are engaged in releasing as rapidly as possible 25,000 miners of medical categories, B2 and B3, now serving at home, and between six and seven thousand of these men have already been released.