§ Commander BELLAIRSasked the Minister of Transport whether any estimate can be made as to railway charges on a typical Sheffield steel product per ton after the rate aid is in full operation as compared with pre-aid and pre-War charges?
1744Wfrom 1921 onwards with the exception of 1922. The returns for 1908 and 1913 were made on a different basis to those for the post-War years and have little value, therefore, for comparative purposes. An approximate comparison of pre and post-War figures for agricultural workers of different kinds is only possible by means of a study of the results of the decennial population censuses, and for this I would refer my hon. Friend to the Reports on the Agricultural Output in 1925 issued by my Department and by the Board of Agriculture for Scotland. The numbers of agricultural workers in England and Wales and Scotland for the years 1921 and 1923–1927 are shown in the following table:—
§ Colonel ASHLEYI regret that I am unable to furnish my hon. and gallant Friend with the comparison asked for in the question, but I understand that the reduction in railway freight charges on the materials used in the manufacture of a ton of steel, proposed under the Railway Freight Rebates (Anticipation) Scheme, is roughly estimated to amount, on the average, to between 2s. and 2s. 6d. 1745W a ton. The present railway charges on these materials are generally about 60 per cent. above those in operation prior to the War.