Lord Weir's letter, shorn of inessentials, is simply a statement
of the employers' case for a further cut in wages—and surely as able and clear a statement as any body of men could wish to have made of their case. Very briefly his points are : That in the great pro- ductive British industries, mining, agriculture, engineering and shipbuilding, rates of wages are and must be directly controlled by foreign competition, acting both at home and in the export markets. In these trades wages have come down to below 1914 purchasing power, which is necessary, since the country as a whole is less prosperous. But in other industries, building, railways and docking, where competition is not directly felt, wages are still decidedly above 1914 purchasing power, and conse- quently greatly above those in the " direct " industries. This discrepancy is deleterious to trade because of (i.) the resulting dissatisfaction in the " direct" trades ; (ii.) the increased cost of products in " direct " indus- tries which have to be distributed by highly paid labourers in "indirect" trades (thus the railwaymen's wages have to be kept up by dear coal) ; the resulting general rise in the cost of living, which keeps down the purchasing power a wages paid in the "direct "trades, thus decreasing demand and increasing unemployment. For these reasons Lord Weir holds that wages in the " indirect " trades should be brought down to the level of those in the less fortunate industries.
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