§ Mr. BYLESasked the President of the Board of Trade upon what grounds the promoters of the British exhibit at the forthcoming International Exhibition of Hygiene at Dresden were refused by his Department the grant which they asked for, although similar assistance had been, given to the exhibition in Turin; and whether such discrimination has been interpreted in any quarter as a slight upon the German nation?
Mr. BUXTONAt the time when this country was invited to take part in the Dresden Hygiene Exhibition, the Board of Trade had already entered into engage- 1890 ments to organise official British sections at International Exhibitions at Brussels, Buenos Aires, and Vienna in 1910, and at Rome and Turin in 1911. In these circumstances and in view of the exacting demands made upon British manufacturers by too frequent participation in International Exhibitions the Board of Trade felt unable to undertake, or to give official support to, the organisation of an exhibit of commercial products at the Dresden Exhibition of Hygiene. I have, however, expressed to the organisers of the Exhibition in London the cordial interest which His Majesty's Government take in the Scientific side of this undertaking. I am convinced that no fair-minded person can possibly have construed the action of His Majesty's Government in the manner suggested in the last part of the question.