§ *MR. REES (Montgomery Boroughs)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Government of German East Africa has imposed an export duty of 1,000 per cent. on sisal bulbilles in order to ensure to that Colony the exclusive advantage of an early start in the cultivation of sisal; whether such action does not necessarily prejudice the development of sisal plantations in adjoining British territory; and, if so, whether any action can be taken to procure equal treatment for British planters.
§ THE UNDER - SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Colonel SEELY,) Liverpool, AbercrombyThe attention of the Secretary of State has been called to the export duty to which my hon. friend refers, and which no doubt to some extent prejudices the development of sisal plantations in British territory; but it did not appear to be a matter in which His Majesty's Government could properly make official representations to the German Government.