§ Mr. BOWERMANasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that considerable dissatisfaction exists with regard to the composition of the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into railway amalgamations, upon which railway interests are strongly represented, but direct representation of railway employés is excluded; and whether he can state why no direct representative of the latter has been appointed to serve on the Committee?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of TRADE (Mr. Churchill)I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by me in this House to the hon. and gallant Member for the Evesham Division on the 23rd ultimo, of which I am sending him a copy. It will be open to representatives of railway employés to offer themselves as witnesses, and I have no doubt that the Committee will be prepared to hear them.
§ Mr. H. A. WATTIs the right hon. Gentleman aware there is a general impression that the Board of Trade and the directors of the railways are over-represented on this Commission, and that the traders and employés are under-represented?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI have said I propose to fill any vacancy which will occur on the Committee by the appointment of another trader. The Committee is a very small one. At any rate, my object has been to obtain an authoritative and not a representative Committee.
§ Mr. RAMSAY MACDONALDIs it not a fact that the complaint on the part of the railway employés is that they have no representatives on the Committee, which receives evidence and cross-examines witnesses, while the directors' interests are more than adequately represented?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI have placed upon the Committee a representative of labour, and having regard to the small size of the Committee, I think labour is pretty well represented. I chose a practical representative of labour.