§ 30. Mr. BOLANDasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state what steps have been taken to secure agreement 1342 on the subject of decimal coinage; whether it is proposed to give legislative effect to the agreement come to between the Institute of Bankers, the Association of Chambers of Commerce, and the Decimal Association, whereby the existing gold and silver coins down to and including the 6d. piece would be retained without any-alteration in their respective values, and the pound sterling would be retained as the monetary unit and be divided into 1,000 parts or mils; whether any progress has been made with regard to the institution of a metric system for weights and measures; and whether steps will be taken before the end of the War to carry out these necessary reforms?
§ Mr. STANLEY BALDWIN (Joint Financial Secretary to the Treasury):These matters are under the consideration of Lord Balfour of Burleigh's Committee on Commercial and Industrial Policy after the War, and I understand that the Committee will report upon them shortly.