§ MR. COURTHOPEI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he is aware that M. H. Durst, of Wheatland, California, exporter of hops for the London market, has formed a corporation, known as the Durst Hop Pool, to control the hop crop of Oregon; and that the Oregon hop-growers employ Chinese labour; and whether he will take steps to prevent this or similar hop pools from destroying the English hop industry, which employs more labour per acre than any other branch of agriculture.
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Sir H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN) Stirling BurghsNo, Sir, the Government have no information as to the formation of the Durst Hop Pool. As to Chinese labour I am informed that it is not employed to any extent by the Oregon hop growers, and I have no reason to believe that so far as it may be employed it is otherwise than under free conditions. With regard to the last part of the Question, I am afraid I cannot undertake to embark on a crusade against hop pools in the United States or anywhere else.