§ Mr. ARTHUR PONSONBY (for Mr. Murray Macdonald)asked the President of the Board of Trade what, according to the official figures, have been the proportionate increases in unemployment in Germany and the United Kingdom between the correspoding periods of 1906, when unemployment in both countries was at its lowest point since 1903, and 1909?
Mr. TENNANTI regret that I am not able to give the information desired by my hon. Friend. For reasons which have repeatedly been given in this House, and which are set out fully in Appendix 9 to the recent Board of Trade Report on conditions in Germany (Cd. 4032), the official figures relating to unemployment in the United Kingdom and Germany cannot be regarded as comparable, and I am advised that some at least of these reasons would apply also to any comparison between the proportionate variations in the figures over a given period. There is also the difficulty of selecting a fair period for comparison between two countries in which the movements of employment have not exactly synchronised.