§ MR. ARTHUR O'CONNORI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether Her Majesty's Government will assist, by a small pecuniary grant, experiments for the improvement of silk culture in the Island of Cyprus, on the lines recommended by the Commissioner of Paphos in his recent Memorandum; and whether the Secretary of State will suggest to the High Commissioner the desirability of revising the silk tithe regulations and collecting the tax on exportation or abolishing it altogether?
§ BARON H. DE WORMSThe Secretary of State is of opinion that, until he is in possession of the views of the authorities in Cyprus on the measures suggested in his despatch of the 25th of April (which is printed at page 55 of the Blue Book, C. 6003), it would be premature to suggest spending public money on a renewal of the experiments undertaken by Mr. Thompson at his own expense. But at a later stage, he is of opinion that such an expenditure as the hon. Member suggests would probably be justifiable. The tithe on silk cocoons exported is taken on exportation, and the tithe on silk wound in the island is taken at the winders, which appears to meet the hon. Member's first suggestion; but the impost on silk cannot be entirely remitted, as such a 259 course would be unfair to other Crown tenants, who have to pay a tithe of their produce to the public Treasury.