§ MR. PROVAND (Glasgow, Blackfriars)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, in view of the fact that after the passing of the Home Rule Bill the Irish Government will have no revenue of their own from the article, the Imperial Government will continue to control and supervise the manufacture of tobacco in Ireland, as is done at present throughout the United Kingdom; and will any, and if so what, steps be taken to ensure that no tobacco can be imported into Great Britain from Ireland of a purity less than is required by law at present, and generally, under what conditions the manufacture of tobacco will be carried on in Ireland after the passing of the Home Rule Bill?
§ MR. W. E. GLADSTONEThe management of this subject is at present under the control of the Excise. If the fiscal arrangements proposed in the Irish Government Bill should be adopted in the state in which they now stand, and should receive in that way the sanction of Parliament, it is probable that a change in them will be necessary; but I think it would be inconvenient to enter upon the consideration of that matter until we have received the stamp of the authority of the House to the arrangement.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURAre we right in believing that in the Home Rule Bill as it at present stands there is no machinery for dealing with the question of the adulteration of tobacco?
§ MR. W. E. GLADSTONENo change is proposed in the machinery as the Bill now stands. Whether a change ought to be made will depend upon the form which the fiscal proposals of the Bill take. I must not as yet assume that in every particular of administration as well as of taxation they will be certain to receive the sanction of the House without any alteration.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThen the actual proposals of the Government are that this important branch of Imperial Revenue should be looked after by purely Irish officials?
§ MR. W. E. GLADSTONENo; the consideration of the question is postponed until we know what the decision of the House may be on the subject of administration—I may add, in common I have no doubt with a great number of other matters of detail, the consideration of which, at the present moment, would be entirely premature, and would lead to nothing but confusion.