To ask the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that Major A. W. Taylor, 2nd Battalion Queen's Regiment, Colchester, is sending out circular letters to the traders in Essex offering the services free of charges and without wages, as unskilled labourers, of men serving with the colours who are nearing time expiration; if such circulars are sanctioned by the Army Council; and whether he will take steps to stop officers in the Army issuing offers of free or cheaper labour whereby employers are tempted to discharge their ordinary workmen.

My attention has been called to the letter in question. This letter specifies that the soldiers should be employed as extra hands, and that any work they perform should be given free of charge in return for instruction given to them by their employer. This proposal, however, not being in accord with instructions issued from time to time by the War Office on the subject of the technical training of soldiers, which do not propose that instruction should be given in exchange for free labour, the attention of the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, the Eastern Command, has been drawn to this letter, with a view to prevent offers of free or cheaper labour being made to employers.