57. Mr. PR INGLEasked the Prime Minister whether Nobel's Explosives Company, Limited, Kynoch, Limited, and Curtiss and Harvey, Limited, are controlled establishments under the Munitions of War Acts; whether these companies have yet paid the munitions levy; whether proposals for the amalgamation of these companies have received the approval of the Government; whether his attention has been drawn to the speculation in the shares of these companies on the basis of the reports of the proposed amalgamation; whether the profits accruing from this speculation will be liable to excess profits duty; and whether steps will be taken to prevent the increase of the price of the materials produced by these companies in consequence of this inflation of the price of the shares?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. A certain sum has been paid on account of munitions levy by one of the firms. The answer to the third and fourth parts of the question is in the negative, and as I am unaware of the circumstances of the case, I am not in a position to reply to the fifth part. The prices referred to in the last part of the question are governed by existing contracts for a considerable period.