§ 5. Mr. Kennedy (for Mr. Shinwell)asked the Secretary for Mines whether his attention has been drawn to the results of State ownership of mines in Holland, where the wages and working conditions are superior to those obtaining in other countries; and whether, in view of these 1891 facts, the Government will give the question of national ownership of mines their immediate attention?
§ Captain CrookshankYes, Sir, I have seen certain figures regarding conditions in the Dutch State mines, but the changing value of currencies and fluctuations in the cost of living make it difficult to establish a true comparison between wages received by the workmen, numbering about 20,000, in those mines and those elsewhere. In any case I cannot accept the implication that any superiority in their conditions, if there is any, is due to the State ownership of the mines themselves, and the reply to the second part of the question is in the negative.