§ SIR HARRY SAMUEL (Tower Hamlets, Limehouse)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Board of Trade if he can state how the rate of wages at present paid to seamen in our mercantile marine compares with the rate paid in 1890.
§ MR. BONAR LAWRates of wages of seamen vary considerably according to the class of man, class of vessel, voyage and port. The average rates of money wages of A.B's shipped at five large ports in Great Britain on steamships engaged in four of the principal foreign voyages are now between four and five per cent. lower than in 1890, which was a year of maximum wages. Particulars of recent changes in seamen's wages were published in the Board of Trade Labour Gazette for December, 1904.