§ Mr. DEVLINasked the President of the Board of Trade whether steps will be 985W taken by the Government to secure that, in any conference between the railway directors and the men for the purpose of bringing about a settlement of the points in dispute between them, adequate provision will be made for the representation of the employés of the Irish railway companies, including those displaced by the recent dispute in Ireland, most of whom are long-service men, and whom their comrades believe have been victimised because they took a leading part in the dispute in the interests of their class?
Mr. BUXTONI must refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, to a similar question asked by the hon. Member for the College Green Division of Dublin on the 27th November, of which I am sending him a copy.
§ Mr. DEVLINasked the President of the Board of Trade, whether in the period from 1901 to 1910, inclusive, the net annual receipts of the Great Northern Railway, Ireland, increased from £410,175 to £452,524, of the Great Southern and Western Railway, Ireland, from £457,870 to £606,683, and of the Midland Great Western Railway, Ireland, from £231,848 to £258,377; whether the average dividend paid by these railway companies during this period was respectively, 6⅛, 4⅛, and 3⅛ per cent.; whether the percentage of wages and traffic salaries to total receipts in 1901 was, in the case of the Great Northern Railway, Ireland, 23.20, in the case of the Great Southern and Western Railway, Ireland 29.44, and in the case of the Midland Great Western Railway, Ireland, 29.39; whether the percentages for 1910 were respectively 22.29, 25.92, and 28.38; whether any, and, if so, what increase of wages has been given to the railway servants on these railways in the period named; and whether he will grant a Return setting forth the rates of wages paid to all grades of railway workers in Ireland in 1901 and in 1910?
Mr. BUXTONThe figures given by the hon. Member in regard to net annual receipts and average dividends seem to be approximately correct, but the percentages quoted are not quite in agreement with the information in the possession of the Board of Trade. With regard to the last part of the question, the Board have no information as to changes in rates of wages affecting particular grades of railway servants employed by the three companies986W named, but the companies furnish particulars annually of the numbers employed, and the total earnings in one week of December of the railway servants in the coaching, goods, locomotive, and engineer's departments. The average earnings per head in the selected week of 1910 when compared with the selected week in 1901 show an increase of 6.4 per cent.