CAPTAIN DONE LANOn behalf of the hon. Member for the St. Patrick Division of Dublin, I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he is aware that certain Liverpool banks have been financing gambling transactions with the object of facilitating leading operators to create fictitious values in Liverpool, to the detriment of legitimate importers and other commercial interests of Liverpool; and whether he will make inquiries into this subject with a view of devising some remedy in this country, such as has already been adopted by the American banks with the object of preventing similar gambling operations in the United States.
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.The Board of Trade have no information substantiating the first branch of the Question, and I have received information, which I believe to be trustworthy, to the effect that the hon. Member who put down the Question is mistaken as to the facts. As regards the second part of the Question, I have before stated that, at all events, an important branch of this subject is being investigated by the Commission on Food Supplies.