§ MR. BELLAIRSI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the figures of German trade in the accounts relating to the trade of foreign countries are calculated on the basis of twenty marks being equal to one sovereign, the result being to exaggerate the combined imports and exports of Germany for 1906 by a value of nearly 14,000,000 sterling; and whether he proposes to alter the mode of calculating the figures in the future.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEI am aware that the rate of twenty marks to the pound which has for many years been adopted in official publications in this country for convenience of calculation does not correspond accurately with the average rate of exchange, and that the effect is to exaggerate the totals of German trade to about the extent stated by my hon. friend, viz., £14,000,000. I will consider how far it is advisable to make a change, having regard to the desirability of preserving continuity in the statistics, but the difficulty of making a change is very great owing to the fluctuations of exchange. I may point out that the value of German trade in marks is also given in the accounts to which the Question relates.