§ Mr. HAMMERSLEYasked the President of the Board of Trade whether there are any highly protected countries in which the wages paid are half those in this country; and will he give details?
§ Mr. W. GRAHAMIn the issues of the International Labour Review for October and December, 1929, tables are given showing the comparative index numbers of real wages in the large towns of different countries, generally in June-July, 1929. The countries shown in this table as having real wages less than 50 per2140W cent. of those paid in this country are Austria, Spain, Italy, Estonia and Portugal. It must be borne in mind that these index numbers are subject to the important reservations set out in detail in the Review. In a publication entitled "Tariff Level Indices," issued in 1927 by the League of Nations, the tariff level in different countries, including three of those above mentioned, are estimated by various methods on the basis of the tariffs in force in 1925. Taking their tariffs as a whole, the three countries are placed in the following groups: Austria, 10 to 15 per cent.; Italy, 15 to 20 per cent.; Spain, over 40 per cent.