§ MR. SEARS (Cheltenham)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been drawn to the 1738 system of periodical stock-taking in warehouses under the Inland Revenue Department and under the Customs Board; is he aware that in connection with a certain warehouse handed over from the Customs to the Inland Revenue in 1903 a balance was struck showing stock representing a duty of £1,200 when there was not a single package in the warehouse; will he cause inquiry to be made into this matter and into the methods of stock-taking adopted in the Customs, and an investigation to ascertain whether the stock shown in the books of the Board agree with the stock actually in the warehouse; and whether there has been a fraudulent removal of stock from any of the other warehouses under that Board.
(Answered by Mr. Lloyd-George.) The Treasury have had the matter referred to in this question under their consideration quite recently, and it will be further considered in connection with the proposed amalgamation of the two Revenue Boards. The Board of Customs are unable to trace the transfer in 1903 of the bonded warehouse mentioned.