§ 15. Mr. FOREMANasked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the fact that many fashionable garments which are now selling at six and seven guineas each contain less than I lb. of wool; whether the Government control price ranges broadly from 19d. to 24d. per lb.; and whether this high charge to the public is in any way due to the shortage of supply which is now being placed on the market?
§ The DEPUTY-MINISTER of MUNITIONS (Mr Kellaway)I have been asked to answer this question. I have no information on the point mentioned in the first part of the question. The Government schedule of prices at which the trade receive a part of their supplies of wool ranges between 26½d. and 70½.per lb. for cleaned scoured wool, according to quality. The high price of woollen garments cannot be due to short supplies or to excessive charges for Government wool, since the Government schedule of issue prices is considerably below the market price at present in any part of the world, and British farmers are obtaining very much higher prices for the new clip. The stocks of wool in this country are the greatest ever known, and the Department is using every effort to pass the wool on to the consumers.