§ Mr. JOHN WARDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that the agreed wages for labourers as published by the Board of Trade, Cd. 5459, is for Leith, 5½d. per hour, Edinburgh, 5½d. per hour, Larbert, 6d. per hour, Grangemouth, 6d. per hour, and why his Department has decided upon the Dunfermline rate as applicable to Rosyth, seeing that Dunfermline has no rate which applies to labourers; and whether, under these circumstances, his Department will reconsider the question with a view to imposing the rates of the Firth of Forth districts upon the contractors at Rosyth, rather than that of a small and isolated inland town?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe rates quoted by my hon. Friend are those agreed in the localities referred to for a limited class of builders' labourers. As pointed out in the question, these wages are not uniform, and there does not appear to be a Firth of Forth rate. I have made inquiry into the matter, and I have no reason to doubt that the contractors for Rosyth are paying a fair rate.