§ 63. Mr. CURRIEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been drawn to repeated statements made recently by the chairman and secretary of the Glasgow Stock Exchange and by other leading business men in Glasgow, the general tenor of which is that the Bank of England, by introducing charges, delays, and restrictive practices and by failing to give properly full information to the public as to the various methods of stock registration now available, has placed obstacles in the way of Scottish subscriptions to recent War Loans; whether he will give consideration to those complaints in advance of the next 474 issue of War Loan; and whether he will issue an official memorandum dealing with these complaints, either specifically or generally, with a view to satisfying public opinion in Scotland either that the complaints or some of them are unreasonable or, alternatively, that they are regarded as reasonable and will be satisfactorily dealt with?
§ Mr. McKENNAI am aware that complaints have been made from this particular quarter, and I can assure the hon. Member that I am anxious to facilitate by all possible means subscriptions from Scotland. I have already taken certain steps, and I will consider the matter further. So far as the attitude of the Bank of England is concerned, I need hardly say that there is no foundation for the charges that there has been discrimination to the prejudice of Scotland as compared with other parts of Great Britain, and it appears to me that those who brought them have not made reasonable allowance for the difficulties inseparable from conducting loan operations of this magnitude.