§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONTo ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies what were the total imports of foreign goods into the various Crown Colonies in the last completed year for which figures are available; and how much of these imports consisted of manufactured goods.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain.) It is impossible to give such a Return as the hon. Member asks for. The Colonial Returns ascribe their imports to the country from which they are imported, and a considerable quantity of foreign produce and manufactures exported from the United Kingdom to the colonies is treated by them as imports from the United Kingdom. The aggregate imports from foreign countries into the Crown Colonies in the last year for which the complete Returns are available are given in the Return, Command 1638, recently published.