HC Deb 16 June 1915 vol 72 cc646-7
5. Mr. SNOWDEN

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty if, in view of the fact that, according to the statement of the late First Lord, the Admiralty has been for the last four years engaged in preparing for war against Germany in case Germany attacked this country, he will say if any steps were taken to deal with such firms as the Nobel Dynamite Trust, which had four German directors on its board, had a considerable proportion of German capital, and was largely engaged in supplying explosives to Germany?

Dr. MACNAMARA

As regards what I may style the preamble to this question, I may observe that the hon. Member for Westmeath North has a question to-morrow to the Prime Minister. I therefore pass to the substantive part of the question, and on that I have to say that the Nobel Dynamite Trust is a holding company, holding the shares of three British manufacturing companies and four German companies. The British directors of the trust number nine, as compared with five Germans. The foreign directors are understood to have resigned, and the trust is of its own accord taking steps for dissolution by a reversion of original interests to British and German shareholders respectively. The British manufacturing companies are entirely under British control. The Admiralty has reason to believe that any interchange of products between the various manufacturing companies controlled by the trust was in respect of blasting material for mining or other commercial purposes. No manufacture of ammunition for Germany appears to have been undertaken by the British companies. The foreign companies were entitled to manufacture explosives for their own Government, and could not have been prevented from doing so by any action of the British Government. In these circumstances, as neither of the countries financially concerned in the relations of the companies was made thereby dependent upon the other for supplies of ammunition, no legislative interference with the financial arrangements of the trust, such as my hon. Friend appears to suggest, would have been of advantage to the defence of this country.