§ 80. Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the case of Kurt Ludwig Wilhelm Bruckmann. who owned half the shares in the Amber Size and Chemical Company, which, in consequence of pressure, he transferred to F. W. Chambers, who is a director in W. H. Muller and Company, Limited; whether he is satisfied that the transfer was a bonâ fide one; and why the company is not wound up?
§ Mr. WARDLEThe case of the Amber Size and Chemical Company, Limited, has been considered by the Advisory Committee, who came to the conclusion that the business is not one to which Section 1 of the Trading With the Enemy Amendment Act, 1916, applies. Mr. Bruckmann's ancestors were Hanoverians, some of whom had served in the British Army. He left Germany at the age of seventeen, and has lived in England for twenty-one years, and the Committee stated in their Report that as the result of inquiries made by them, they did not recommend the vesting of Bruckmann's shares. I am informed that he has transferred his shares to Mr. F. W. Chambers, who is a director in W. H. Muller and Company (London), Limited.
§ General CROFTIs the hon. Gentleman aware that the firm W. H. Muller is the same as that which is controlled by Mr. A. G. Krœller, an avowed enemy of this country, in Holland?
§ Mr. WARDLEI was not aware of that.