§ Mr. C. BATHURSTasked whether the Customs and Excise Returns for the year ended 31st March, 1911, disclose payment of Stamp Duties in respect of patent medicines of upwards of £325,000; if so, whether this represents an increase, and to what extent, on the amount of the duties paid under the same head during the previous financial year; what number of packages of patent medicines the above duties represent; and whether, in view of the amount of such medicines widely advertised and of no curative value consumed by poor persons, the Government contemplate introducing any legislation dealing with this question?
Mr. McKINNON WOODThe yield of the duty on patent medicines in the year ended the 31st March last was £325,646, which was an increase of £12,532 on the receipt for the previous year, but is little more than £2,000 over the average receipts for the past ten years. No figures are available as to the number of packets of medicines represented by the figures for the year. The last part of the question appears to be one for the Home Office.