§ 87. Mr. SNOWDENasked the President of the Board of Trade if permission has been given by the Paper Controller to the wholesale newsagents to send back returns during the next month; whether such permission has been given to the retail trade; if not, why the wholesalers, or in many cases the retailers also, have been given this special privilege; and will the privilege be extended to the retail trade?
Sir A. STANLEYSome latitude has been given to wholesale newsagents in the matter of returns for four weeks from 24th June owing to the difficulty of making up their orders (especially for magazines and periodicals) in advance, it being necessary for wholesalers to send orders to the publishers before they themselves receive orders from the retailers. No such permission has been given to the retail trade, but any specific cases of hardship brought to the notice of the Paper Controller will be sympathetically dealt with.