asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the fact that a recent Admiralty Order causes a reduction of l½d. per hour in the wages of men engaged in tanks at Chatham Dockyard applying bitumastic solution and enamel; whether he is aware that the men have to enter these tanks through manholes and apply the solution boiling hot, and that the fumes from the solution are most obnoxious, with the result that the men are frequently overcome and have to be extracted from the tanks to the fresh air; and will he cause an immediate inquiry to be made in order that these men may be adequately recompensed for this dangerous and obnoxious work?

No Order has been issued with the purpose stated. The complaint will be investigated.

I will put the question down in a week's time.