§ 42. Sir A. MARKHAMasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that some years ago a company was registered under the name of Arthur Wilson Peck and Company to acquire two well-known Sheffield houses who dealt in pianos and musical instruments; that at the outbreak of war 1,940 of the 2,000 £10 shares in this company were held by Germans or persons of German origin; that E. Bechstein, piano manufacturers, of Berlin, held the majority of the shares and controlled the company; and whether he proposes taking any steps to inform the inhabitants of Nottingham, Sheffield, and Leeds, where this firm carries on business, that this company is a purely German firm trading under an English name?
Mr. RUNCIMANI am aware that Arthur Wilson Peck and Company. Limited, was registered in the year 1892 to take over two piano businesses carried on in Sheffield. 1,025 shares of £10 each out of an issued capital of 2,000 shares are held on behalf of Edwin Bechstein, who is a German subject. The greater part of the remaining shares are held by naturalised British subjects of German origin who were naturalised twenty years ago. The application of the Trading With the Enemy Amendment Act, 1916, to this case will be considered in due course.