§ SIR G. BADEN-POWELLI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether Her Majesty's Government deem themselves to be bound by the Resolution of the House of Commons of the 13th of February, 1891, as to rates of wages to be paid in carrying out Government contracts; whether the rate of wages referred to in the Resolution is the rate demanded by the spokesmen of that section of working men who are Trades Unionists; and whether he will state what proportion of wage earners in the United Kingdom belong to established Trades Unions and what proportion do not?
§ SIR J. T. HIBBERTThe Government holds itself bound by the Resolution of the House of Commons passed on 1183 February 13th, 1891, which requires the Government—
To make every effort to secure the payment of such wages as are generally accepted as current in each trade for competent workmen.I have no authority to limit or add to this definition. I am informed by the Board of Trade that, roughly speaking, there are about 1,500,000 members of Trade Unions, but they are unable to give any exact figures as to the other class.