§ Mr. HUNTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention 1222 has been called to the fact that the unskilled negro workmen in protected America are far better off than our white unskilled labourers in this country; and whether he proposes to protect the employment of our white British workmen in the future, in order to make their conditions of comfort and prosperity equal to the conditions of the descendants of the African slaves in protected America?
§ Mr. GULLANDThe answer is in the negative.
§ Mr. HUNTIs the hon. Gentleman aware that it was the leader of the coloured people in America who has made the statement that the black people in America are better off than people in this country of the same class, and is the hon. Gentleman willing that the coloured people in America under the present system should continue so much better off than people of the same class in this country?
§ Mr. GULLANDI shall be very glad to convey the hon. Gentleman's question to the President of the Board of Trade.
§ Lord HUGH CECILAre the President of the Board of Trade and the Secretary to the Board of Trade both engaged at the Imperial Conference?
§ Mr. GULLANDI should have apologised at the beginning for the President of the Board of Trade.
§ Lord HUGH CECILAnd the Secretary?
§ The PRIME MINISTERThe Secretary is unwell.
§ Mr. HUNTasked whether, in view of the fact that over 300,000 tons of manufactured steel were imported during the first four months of this year, and that this continued importation of surplus steel made by foreign workmen was the cause of the closing down of the Ebbw Vale works indefinitely, and the throwing out of employment of hundreds of our own men, he intends to take any action to prevent our own men from being thrown out of employment in the future by the importation of surplus steel from abroad?
§ Mr. GULLANDMy right hon. Friend has seen newspaper reports to the effect that it is proposed for the present to close the Ebbw Vale Steel Works, and he trusts that this stoppage will only be temporary. It is not intended to propose legislation of the nature suggested.
§ Mr. HUNTCan the hon. Gentleman say how our own men can be employed in making these goods when the policy of the Government encourages the importation of these untaxed goods from abroad?
§ Mr. KEIR HARDIEasked (1) how many men were recruited by the manager of the Greenock Labour Exchange during his recent trip to Stornoway and other outlying parts of the Greenock area, the trade or occupation of the men so employed, and the cost of the trip to the State? And, (2) what representations were made by the manager of the Greenock Labour Exchange when he applied for sanction to make a recruiting trip to Stornoway and other places recently visited by him; and whether he informed the Board of Trade that at that time there were hundreds of young Highlanders unemployed in Greenock who had been induced to leave their native towns and villages by false promises concerning wages and conditions of employment; and whether it is a function of the manager of a Labour Exchange to act as a recruiting agent in securing a supply of cheap labour for employers?
§ Mr. GULLANDThe recent journey of the manager of the Greenock Labour Exchange to a part of Scotland to which it has not yet been found possible to extend the Labour Exchange system was only authorised after it had been satisfactorily ascertained that it was impossible to fill either locally or from other Labour Exchanges a large number of vacancies registered at the Greenock Labour Exchange. I am informed that there is no ground for the suggestion that young Highlanders suitable for this class of employment were already available in Greenock. My right hon. Friend is satisfied that the Greenock manager, in undertaking the journey, was fulfilling the legitimate duties of a Labour Exchange manager in placing workpeople desiring employment in touch with employers desiring workpeople. The journey was undertaken as part of the ordinary duties of the manager, and its cost cannot be separately stated.
§ Mr. KEIR HARDIEQuestion 65 has not been answered as to how many men were recruited during this journey.
§ Mr. GULLANDI am very sorry that I cannot give the hon. Member the information.
§ Mr. KEIR HARDIECan the hon. Gentleman say whether the men who were recruited were skilled draughtsmen or unskilled labourers, and whether, when the trip was made, there were hundreds of unskilled labourers unemployed in the neighbourhood?
§ Mr. GULLANDI am sorry I cannot give the hon. Gentleman the information he asks for. Perhaps he will put a question down.