§ 12. Colonel GRETTONasked the President of the Board of Trade how many spindles are actually employed in the cotton trade in Great Britain; and what is the number actually employed in the United States of America at the present time?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERIt is reported in an American periodical that in April 33,413,000 cotton spindles were "active" in the United States of America. Later information is not at present available. I regret that I am unable to state the number of cotton spindles actually employed in the United Kingdom, but I am informed that in April the spinning industry as a whole was working at about 70 per cent. of productive capacity.
§ Colonel GRETTONWith regard to the spindles employed in this country, does that mean full time or short time?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERIt is taking the corrected figure of 70 per cent. of productive capacity, because short time has to be included. I think that that is really a better figure than anything regarding the number of spindles.