§ 23 and 24. Mr. NIELDasked (1) whether licences to trade with the enemy are limited in number or in area, or whether either factor enters into consideration; are such licences limited to a particular transaction or to a specified tonnage or monetary value; how many of such licences have been issued to persons carrying on business in London and how many to traders in the principal ports on the East Coast of the United Kingdom, specifying the numbers in respect of each of such places; have any of these licences been granted to alien enemies; and (2) if he will state how many licences to trade with the enemy have been granted since the commencement of the War, and in accordance with what principles, if any, and under what conditions are the licences issued; if any special form of application is requisite, to what end are such inquiries directed; and are any, and what, steps taken to test the accuracy of the answers given?
§ Sir J. SIMONI am glad to have the opportunity of clearing up the serious misapprehension which seems to be involved in such questions. Trading with the enemy is a most serious criminal offence, whether it takes the form of exporting goods to or importing them from the enemy, directly or indirectly. Special Statutes and Proclamations have been framed to stop it, and every effort is made to detect breaches of the law and to punish those who can be proved to be guilty. No system of granting licences in exception to the law exists. The only exception known to me arises in the rare cases when articles of enemy origin, which could not for the time being be otherwise obtained and which are of great importance to British industries, are under strict conditions permitted to be imported. Licences for this purpose are now dealt with by the Board of Trade.