§ MR. CROMBIEI beg to ask the hon. Member for North Huntingdonshire, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether the Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the question of railway rates for agricultural produce will include in its inquiries the rates for carriage of fish.
§ MR. AILWYN FELLOWES (Huntingdonshire, Ramsey)We fully recognise the importance of the question of the rates charged for the carriage of fish by rail, and any representations which we may receive on the subject will be carefully investigated by our inspectors. But it would not be possible to extend the work of Lord Jersey's Committee in the manner proposed. The composition of the Committee would require to be considerably altered, and it was appointed, moreover, solely for the purpose of investigating the question of the alleged preferential treatment of foreign and colonial as compared with British produce—a question which scarcely arises in the case of fish.