CAPTAIN BROWNasked the President of the Board of Trade if he can state the average wage earned by colliery officials of grades below managers in 1914 and at the present period; and how their rise, if any, compares with the rise of ordinary miners' wages between the dates mentioned?
§ Sir A. GEDDESI regret that no information is readily available for the year 1914, but I have been supplied with figures for November, 1913, which I hops will be suitable for the purposes of comparison which my hon. and gallant Friend has in mind. In November, 1913, the average earnings of coal getters on piece work were 8s. 5d. per shift, as compared with 18s. 4d. per shift at the present time; while the average earnings of deputies, firemen, examiners, etc., on day wage have risen correspondingly from 7s. 8d. to 16s. 5d. per shift. No record can be given, without very considerable inquiry, of the average earnings of under-managers.