§ 1. Sir PHILIP RICHARDSONasked the President of the Board of Trade the amount and value of steel ship-plates imported into this country from Germany during the first four months of 1924, and the comparative prices of British- and German-made steel plates, respectively?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of TRADE (Mr. Webb)Importers are not required to declare ship plates separately from other steel plates, and consequently I am not in a position to give a precise answer to the first part of the question. The quantity of imported "steel plates and sheets (other than armour plates) not under ⅛-inch thick," registered during the 1976 first four months of this year, as consigned from Germany, amounted to 15,283 tons, valued at £110,696. I regret that the information in my possession does not enable me to give the comparative prices asked for in the second part of the question.
§ 2. Sir P. RICHARDSONasked the President of the Board of Trade the amount and value of steel ship-castings imported into this country from Germany during the first four months of 1924; and what are the wages of steel workers in the centres where these castings are produced in Germany and England, respectively?
§ Mr. WEBBI regret that I am unable to give separate figures regarding ship-castings. During the first four months of this year 145 tons of imported "steel castings in the rough" of all kinds were registered as consigned from Germany. The declared value of these imports was £2,585. With regard to the second part of the question, I have consulted my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour, but the information at his disposal is not sufficient to enable the desired particulars to be given.
§ Mr. LUMLEYIs it not a fact that the German rate is less than half the English rate?
§ Mr. WEBBThat I am not able to say. The problem is not an easy one if we do not know the proper rate at which to calculate the German currency.