§ MR. YERBURGH (Chester)To ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any official information to the effect that British postal packages to China pay duty to the Customs, while parcels arriving by German or French mail escape duty free; and, if so, whether it is proposed to allow such proceeding to continue without protest.
(Answered by Lord Cranborne.) Import duty has been charged upon British postal packages to China, and there is no doubt that the practice is legal; but we understand that parcels from France and Germany have escaped such taxation, and we shall certainly insist upon equality of treatment.