§ MR. REMNANT (Finsbury, Holborn)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, in reference to figures recently given by him relating to exports to Germany, whether the item manufactures includes woollen tops; if so, what is the value of this item, and what is the approximate amount of textile wages paid in their manufacture.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (MR. LLOYD-GEORGE, Carnarvon Boroughs)Woollen tops are classed among "articles wholly or mainly manufactured " in the trade statistics of the United Kingdom. The value of the exports of woollen tops to Germany from the United Kingdom was £824,000 in 1904, £1,033,000 in 1905, and 361 £1,266,000 in 1906. No official figures are available showing the amount of wages paid to operatives engaged in the manufacture of such tops. I hope, however, that the inquiries now being prosecuted into wages in the United Kingdom will throw some light on this question.