§ MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reference to the instruction to coal contractors seeking remission of 260 the new duty that they must disclose and prove their margin of profits, whether, in numerous instances, merchants committed to c.i.f. sales have not covered for coal or freight, and that, in the case of colliery owners selling forward f.o.b., the margin of profit will depend on the cost of production of the coal when raised; whether he is aware that there are several cases on record at Cardiff and other coal ports during recent years when the anticipation of profit by the merchant in speculative sales has not been realised, but where actual loss has resulted; and if, in order to assist contractors who are not covered in arriving at their margin of profits, he will indicate what the course of the market and the cost of production will be during the currency of their contracts.
§ *SIR M. HICKS BEACHit was not intended to ask coal contractors to disclose their profits, which are necessarily problematical; and no apprehension need be entertained that anyone will be required to prove things that are still a matter of speculation.