MR. NOLANI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that millions of tons of potatoes are annually used in Germany for the manufacture of crude alcohol for motoring and manufacturing purposes -and whether, seeing that Ireland is a potato-growing country, the restrictions. on the making of spirit there for industrial purposes can be relaxed in such a way as to place Ireland in a position to-compete with Germany and other foreign, countries.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINIn Paragraph 4 of their recently presented Report, the Industrial Alcohol Committee stated that they were satisfied. "that in the present agricultural conditions of this country it would not be possible to found a profitable industry on the employment of potatoes as a material for distillation." The evidence on which this conclusion was based will be found in Questions 5656–5854 of the Minutes of Evidence. Briefly, it may be said that it would not pay to make spirit from potatoes unless the potatoes could be purchased at a price not exceeding about £1 per ton. In Ireland potatoes fetch not less than £2 per ton.