§ "That there shall be charged, on and after the fourteenth day of May, nineteen 590 hundred and six, until the fourteenth day of May, nineteen hundred and seven, in lieu of the duty now payable on tea, the following Customs import duty on tea (that is to say):—;
§ Tea - - the pound, Five-pence."
§ Resolution read a second time.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House doth agree with the Committee in the said Rosolution."
§ MR. J. CHAMBERLAIN (Birmingham, W.)said that, with respect to the change of date which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had announced for the coming into force of the new duty, he had been informed that the present proposal was an unusual one. Time had usually been given to enable the trade to settle down to the altered circumstances. He was also informed that under the present arrangement a very grievous injustice might be done to certain persons. Acting on the statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Monday, that the new duty 591 would not come into operation until July, dealers and others who required to hold considerable stocks proceeded on Tuesday to clear their stocks in bond. Then it was decided that the duty should come into force on May 14th. Clearly that involved a considerable injustice to those who had acted on the faith of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's statement. The case could easily be met by a drawback, and no doubt the right hon. Gentleman would make arrangements of that kind.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. ASQUITH,) Fifeshire, E.said that the change of date was made because fuller information showed that the earlier date was more convenient to the trade, some branches of which would have been hampered and even paralysed if the operation of the new duty had been delayed until July. It was not a new practice to fix an early date. On the contrary, the practice of postponing the operation of a new duty was a recent usage. As to the hardship mentioned by the rght hon. Gentleman, the dealers who cleared their stocks on Tuesday had evidently abstained from doing so earlier in anticipation of some change in the duty. While that was a natural and legitimate thing to do, it did not give rise to a serious case of hardship, though it afforded ground for inquiry. He had himself inquired into a considerable number of cases brought to his notice, and his advisers had been in communication with the leading representatives of the trade. Steps would be taken to prevent any hardship resulting from the declaration made by him on Monday.
§ Ordered, That it be an Instruction to the Gentlemen appointed to bring in a Bill upon the Resolutions reported from the Committee of Ways and Means on the 1st day of this instant May, and then agreed to by the House, that they do make provision therein pursuant to the said Resolution—;(Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer).