HC Deb 11 July 1916 vol 84 cc196-7
41. Sir JOHN JARDINE

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that on 3rd April, 1916, a petition signed by 223 Members of the House of Commons, and supported by the High Commissioners, respectively, of the Commonwealth of Australia and of the Dominion of New Zealand, was presented to the President of the Board of Trade praying that the plum-age of wild birds should be placed under the shipping prohibition of luxuries; that in 1915 648,888 lbs. of these feathers were imported, the vast majority of which were charged freight by measurement, and being in the raw state were very bulky; whether, although the warehouses are already choked with supplies, these feathers continue to be imported; and whether, in view of the fact that the import of so many necessaries of life has been prohibited owing to the scarcity of tonnage, anything has been done to prohibit the import of the feathers of wild birds as unnecessary luxury?

Mr. PRETYMAN

The answer to the first two parts of the question is in the affirmative. The figures are, of course, exclusive of the much larger imports of ostrich feathers. As to the state of the warehouses, I have no information. On general grounds I am, personally, in sympathy with the proposal to prohibit the importation of these feathers; but, in view of the very special object with which the present restrictions on import have been imposed, namely, the saving of tonnage space, I feel that there would be considerable objection to a proposal to utilise them for a quite different purpose, which is likely to involve controversy.

Sir J. JARDINE

Would not this prohibition liberate a great quantity of tonnage—as these goods are sent by measurement and not by weight—for other articles required in the United Kingdom?

Mr. PRETYMAN

To a very small amount.

Colonel YATE

What grounds has the hon. Gentleman for supposing that a controversy would arise on this point

Mr. PRETYMAN

From the former history of the question.