SIR GILBERT PARKERI beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if there is any difference at the present time in the rates of freight paid for the transport of goods of the same class on German or British ships to Basra, and other ports for Bagdad, from ports in the United Kingdom or Germany; whether, if such conditions exist in favour of German trade, this is due to preference given by a German company to goods shipped by them in German ships from a German port; whether the effect of this preference is to shut out cheaper classes of British goods for which there is a large and growing demand in the Persian market. and, if so, whether His Majesty's Government can suggest any means for removing the disabilities under which British traders labour in that region.
§ MR. RUNCIMANMy right hon. friend has no information as to whether such difference of freights does exist, but he will inquire.