§ MR. SCOTT (Ashton-under-Lyne)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in declining to remit the sugar duties or any portion thereof, he has considered the effect of the tax on the fruit-growing industry, which the Departmental Committee that reported two years ago stated to be the only form of agriculture that has exhibited any sign of progress in recent years; and whether he is aware that the welfare of fruit growers is entirely bound up with the jam trade, for which sugar at the lowest possible price is an article of first necessity.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. ASQUITH,) Fife, E.Yes, and I am afraid that the industry to which my hon. friend refers is by no means the only one which is seriously handicapped by these duties, to the objectionable characteristics of which I have always been alive. I regret the fact that the state of the public finances makes it impossible at the present time to dispense with them.