§ MR. ROWLANDS (Kent, Dartford)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a woman has been fined, at the Thames Police Court, £50 for smuggling saccharine; whether there has been an increase in the smuggling of saccharine in recent years; and can he state the number of successful prosecutions.
§ MR. ASQUITHThe answer to the first part of my hon. friend's Question is in the affirmative. The duty on saccharine was only imposed in 1901, and I have no reason to believe that there has been any increase in smuggling it of late. There have been, in all, twenty-three successful prosecutions at the instance of the Board of Customs, and ten at the instance of the Board of Inland Revenue.