§ MR. CLAUDE HAY (Shoreditch, Hoxton)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has received a memorial in which his attention is drawn to a circular, dated May 3rd, 1906, issued by the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain and Ireland, Limited, stating that the alteration in the duty on stripped leaf tobacco announced in the Budget is not of a nature to permit of a reduction in the price of tobacco; and what action he proposes to take.
§ MR. ASQUITHI have seen a copy of the circular. The alteration in the duties is a very small one—a reduction of 1d. a pound in the present effective rate upon one kind of raw material of which the possible supply for the next two years is of limited amount. I do not anticipate any appreciable loss of revenue from the change, the object of which is to remove an artificial barrier to the natural course of the industry. I have no doubt that the resulting economic advantage will sooner or later find its way to the consumer, but I have never anticipated that its effect would he an immediate reduction in prices.