§ MR. CHARLES McARTHURI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has received a memorial from the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, stating that the stripped tobacco imported since the differential duty was imposed was either contracted for prior to the imposition of said duty or has been imported for manufacture in bond, and that practically no strips are now being put up in the United States for shipment to the United Kingdom; and whether he can estimate the amount of revenue which will be derived from imports of stripped tobacco during the ensuing year.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINThe Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, in their memorial dated the 28th February, 1905, made the statement that 10,503 casks of strips had been imported into London, Liverpool, and Glasgow between 1st June, 1904, and 1st February, 1905, but that these casks had been either in transit or contracted for before the imposition of the extra duty—or had been imported for manufacturing in bond or for export. I take no responsibility for these statements, which I have means of checking. I have no information about what is now being done in the United States of America, but I do not suppose that any appreciable quantity of strips will be put up there for export to this country until the existing stock of strips in bond, which under the Finance Act of last year was accorded preferential treatment, has been worked off. In answer to the second part of the Question, I may say that the consumption of strips in 1904–5 was 53,810,000 lbs.—and if a similar amount were to be cleared during 1905–6 from stocks bonded before 20th April, 1904, the resulting revenue would be £336,000. If any strips imported since that date were cleared for home consumption, the revenue would be proportionately increased.