§ MR. WILLIAM REDMOND (Clare, E.)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any allowance or abatement will be made to those people in Ireland who may desire to try the experiment of growing tobacco under the Irish Tobacco Act of last year.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEAfter consulting my right hon. friend the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture, etc., I have arranged that, instead of the rebate which is allowed at present, a sum of £6,000 shall be placed at the disposal of the Department in the next financial year and subsequently up to 1913 for the encouragement of the tobacco industry in Ireland.
§ MAJOR ANSTRUTHER-GRAYasked the right hon. Gentleman if he would not mete out the same treatment to Scotland.
§ MR. CARLILE (Hertfordshire, St. Albans)asked if the right hon. Gentleman would likewise take steps to promote the cultivation of tobacco in England also.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDinquired whether it was not the fact that the present position of the tobacco industry in Ireland was the result of six or seven years laborious experiment which showed that Ireland was especially suitable for the cultivation of tobacco.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEThat is so. If similar representations are made to me in regard to Scotland, England, or Wales, I shall be glad to consider them.