§ MR. HOWARD VINCENTI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if he can give the House any information concerning the advantage the manufacturers and merchants of the United Kingdom take of the Board of Trade Journal as a guide to the condition and requirements of British trade abroad; and, if there is any truth in the allegation that foreign competitors more largely utilise the valuable information furnished by Her Majesty's Diplomatic and Consular Officers than our own countrymen?
§ * SIR M. HICKS BEACHThe Board of Trade Journal is made use of by Chambers of Commerce, the Agents General for the Colonies, and other authorities, as well as by private merchants, who express themselves as greatly interested in the contents. There is no doubt business people profit by information of the kind which the Journal contains. The Press also make a large use of the information. The Board of Trade have not been informed that our foreign competitors more largely utilise the information than our own traders, and they do not believe it likely that this is the case, the information relating mainly to places where our own trade requires development, or to circumstances which our own traders have the best opportunity to take advantage of. The risk of foreign competitors utilising the information is, of course, no reason why our own traders should not have the advantage of it.