§ Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEasked whether the right hon. Gentleman's attention has been called to the statement made by His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General, Sir Francis Oppenheimer, in his last Report, that a further element of uneasiness has been introduced in the industrial life of Germany by the proposed revision of the German insurance schemes; that a number of chambers of commerce in their annual reports complain that the social schemes which have been extended without any reference to employers are approaching the limit of a bearable burden, and that the expenditure which they entail is becoming so serious a matter in the cost of manufacture that it must tell against Germany in foreign markets; and whether, in planning the National Insurance Bill, the Government have considered whether the new liability it is proposed to place upon employers may have a similar effect on the manufactures of this country?
Mr. McKINNON WOODThe statements relative to the cost of workmen's insurance in Germany contained in Sir Francis Oppenheimer's report, have no direct bearing upon the National Insurance Bill, since under that Bill the contributions, both of employers and workpeople, are fixed once for all, whereas the corresponding contributions under the German Sickness and Invalidity Insurance Laws, which are already twice as high as those which will be paid in this country, increase automatically with every increase in wages and benefits.
§ Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEWill the right hon. Gentleman answer the last three lines of my question?
§ Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEHas the right hon. Gentleman's attention been called to a statement made by another Member of the Government to the effect that the employers' contribution will come 299 out of the pockets of the ordinary consumer, because they will increase the price of the goods?
Mr. McKINNON WOODThat is quite a separate question, and does not arise out of the question put to me.