§ MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether duties have been recently imposed or increased in any of the South African Colonies upon imported British coal; if so, whether he can state the amount of the duties, and when they were imposed or raised; and whether he is prepared to suggest in the proper 1283 quarter the propriety of removing the Colonial preference given to the South African product, until such time as the financial burden, resulting from the late war, presses less heavily upon coal pro ducers in this country than is the case at present.
(Answered by Mr. Churchill.) The duty on coal imported into the South African Colonies has not, so far as I am aware, been altered since the Customs Convention of 1903, under which a duty of 3s. per ton of 2,000 lbs. is levied. The Secretary of State is not satisfied that he could usefully make the suggestion desired by the hon. Member.