HC Deb 15 July 1918 vol 108 cc709-10
70. Sir ARTHUR FELL

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Shipping Controller what steps he proposes to take to supply shipping facilities for the carriage of wood pulp for paper making from the mill of the Ha Ha Bay Sulphite Company in Canada to this country; if he is aware that this mill was equipped with the special support of the Foreign Office and the Canadian Government, and was built to help to render this country free from the Scandinavian Wood Pulp Association, and that special facilities were afforded by all Government Departments so that it might be rapidly at work producing wood pulp; that the steamship "Gyp" the last steamer belonging to the company, has been requisitioned to carry coal to the Mediterranean, in breach of a promise that it would be used on the American trade and the deck space reserved for wood pulp; and has he realised that the Canadian pulp can be sold at half the price charged by the Scandinavian trust or combine, and the loss that will fall on this country if shipping facilities are withheld?

The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of SHIPPING (Sir Leo Chiozza Money)

I regret to say that the Shipping Controller cannot at present take steps to provide tonnage to convey wood pulp from Canada in order to save the extra expense of obtaining the material from the nearer market of Scandinavia, or to give financial assistance to the company referred to. It is only by obtaining supplies from the nearest possible markets that the Shipping Controller is able to supply the nation with food and munitions, and the steps proposed by this company would amount to a direct substitution of wood pulp for food or other vital necessities. The requisition of the vessel named was in no way a breach of any promise, the temporary arrangements made in January, 1917, as to deck space being definitely determined in April of the same year. I may add that this company has been treated in exactly the same way as another important British enterprise, whose wood pulp and paper we have regretfully had to refuse to transport and whose special ships we have had to requisition.

Sir A. FELL

Have the special conditions under which this factory was erected been considered?

Sir L. CHIOZZA MONEY

I am not aware that the statement has any foundation in fact, but perhaps my hon. Friend will give me particulars.