§ MR. MUNDELLA (Sheffield, Brightside)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether it has now been definitely settled that the advantages which the United Kingdom derives under the Most - Favoured - Nation Clauses in the Treaties with Belgium and Germany extend also to all British Colonies and Possessions; and whether the reduced rates of duty 506 and facilities of transport, accorded to each other by the various Treat Powers under the recent Treaties negotiated in Central Europe, will also be accorded to all British Colonies and Dependencies?
§ SIR MICHAEL HICKS BEACHHer Majesty's Government interpret the Treaties with Belgium and Germany to mean that the advantages derived by Great Britain under the Most-Favoured-Nation Clauses in them extend to all British Colonies and Possessions, and that the reduced rates of duty and facilities of transit (not transport) recently granted by Germany and by Belgium are given to British Colonies and Dependencies, under Great Britain's Treaties with those two countries1. From a statement which appeared in the Times a few days ago, I gather that this view has been acted upon by the German Government, but I have no official information on that point.