§ 34. Mr. A. M. SAMUELasked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether his attention has been drawn to the wage reduction in the German iron and steel industries in Upper Silesia and to the general wage revision in other industries; and has he yet obtained any information as to the general cut in German export prices other than in iron and steel?
§ Mr. GILLETTMy attention has been drawn to the information published in the Press regarding the movement for wage reductions in the Upper Silesian iron and steel industry. The Commercial Counsellor at Berlin was recently requested to report developments. So far, however, no information has been received from him beyond that which has already appeared.
§ Mr. SAMUELWill the hon. Gentleman take steps to get that information and make it available to the Association of British Chambers of Commerce so that we may be prepared to compete with a cut in our own prices?
§ Mr. GILLETTIf any information can be obtained which it is desirable to make available, of course it will be made available.
§ Mr. SAMUELIn what way does the hon. Gentleman propose to provide our export firms with early information as to what their German competitors are quoting?
| Date of Sale. | Description. | Purchaser. | Area. | Purchase Price. | |||||||||
| Acres. | £ | s. | d. | ||||||||||
| 1922 and 1924. | Town Property* | … | … | Various | … | … | … | About 35 | 35,836 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 1927 | … | Lighthouse and Nene Lodge Farms.† | Commissioners of Crown Lands. | 819.578 | 38,000 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 1927 | … | Chalk House Farm | … | Air Ministry | … | … | 94.978 | 4,000 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1929 | … | Scott's Holt | … | … | Sutton Bridge U.D.C. | … | 2.550 | 150 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1930 | … | — | do. | … | 5.266 | 533 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1923 to 1928. | — | Various | … | … | … | 1.274 | 205 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 78,724 | 10 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Auctioneers' expenses, etc. | … | … | 913 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Net proceeds of Sales | … | … | … | £77,811 | 10 | 0 | |||||||
| * The estate as originally purchased included the greater part of the town of Sutton Bridge, and such portions of the town property as were not required for the development of the estate in small holdings were sold by auction in 1922 and 1924. | |||||||||||||
| † This area, which is situated to the east of the River Nene, was not considered very suitable in character for immediate development in Email holdings, having been reclaimed in comparatively recent years. |
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYIs the iron and steel industry in Silesia protected by a special tariff?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat cannot arise out of the question.
§ Mr. MARDY JONESIs this the first occasion on which there has been a wage reduction in a protected industry in Germany?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat question does not arise either.