§ 78. General CROFTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether compensation has been paid since August, 1914, by the Royal Commission to the losers of German and Austrian business in beetroot sugar, and bearing in mind that the British Government was in no way responsible for the withdrawal of German and Austrian trade, which was inevitable owing to the War, he will explain why this has been done, as, roughly, three-fourths of the number of sugar dealers of the United Kingdom who have become beneficiaries under this scheme were, and always have been, solely dependent on the German and Austrian trade; and whether the compensation being paid to them simply means the transference of the emoluments derivable from the cane-sugar branch of the business with which they had always been in competition?
§ Mr. CLYNESI have been asked to reply. The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative; the other parts, therefore, do not arise.