§ MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he can state the extent of the preference given to colonial over foreign wheat in the Customs tariffs of this country from 1832 to 1845; and whether he has any official information showing how far the increase in the centesimal proportion of the declared value of British manufactures 568 exported to our colonies, from 27.82 in 1832 to 28 04 in 1845, was a consequence of the preference shown by the mother country; and if he can state the percentage increase or decrease in the exports to the colonies of our total exports since the abandonment of any preferential Customs treatment.
(Answered by Mr. Gerald Balfour.) The information asked for in the first and last parts of this Question cannot be supplied without notice. The answer to the second part is in the negative.