§ MR. HAROLD COXI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade how many consular or commercial agents it is proposed to appoint to the self-governing Colonies; what salary it is proposed to pay to them; and on what Vote that salary will be placed.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEThese questions are still under consideration. The cost will, I presume, be a charge on the Vote for the Board of Trade.
§ MR. HAROLD COXWho will appoint these gentlemen?
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEThey will be appointed by the Board of Trade in consultation with the Colonial Office.
§ MR. WEDGWOOD (Newcastle-under-Lyme)asked whether it was intended that the information obtained would be confined to British manufacturers.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEI think it will be treated exactly as the information we are getting at the present moment from our Consuls abroad. A good deal of that is confidential and is only given to our own manufacturers, but a good deal that is embodied in the Reports is open to the whole world.
§ MR. MYER (Lambeth, N.)How can you expect to obtain information from foreign countries if your own information is not available to them?
§ MR. HAROLD COXHow is it possible to keep the information secret?
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEI think it is done very successfully at the present moment.
MR. LLEWELYN WILLIAMS (Carmarthen District)asked whether commercial agents were to be appointed for the Crown Colonies.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEI think that will be considered later on if these appointments prove successful.
§ MR. CHARLES PRICEAre we to understand that these Consuls will be under the Board of Trade and not the Foreign Office?
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEwas understood to reply in the affirmative.
§ MR. WATT (Glasgow, College)Will the right hon. Gentleman see that ex-military men are not given these posts?
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEI should say that those appointed should be business men.