§ 6 Captain WEDGWOOD BENNasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether, in view of the high cost of living, he will explain the reason for the import restrictions on the following household necessities: Brooms and brushes, carpets, chinaware, cutlery, clocks, flat-irons, furniture, lamps, mangles, mops, oilcloth, oil stoves, clothes pegs, and sewing machines;
- (2) whether, in view of the present high cost of clothing, he will explain the reason for the import restrictions on the following articles: Ladies' apparel, boots and shoes, buttons, cotton duck, embroidery, flax yarn, gloves, hosiery, laces, metal boot protectors, leather, scissors, sewing machines, silk manufactures, shoemakers' tools, trimmings, umbrellas, and woollen goods;
- (3) whether, in view of the high cost of food, he will explain the reason for the import restrictions on the following articles: Butter, tinned herrings, sprats, etc., tinned salmon, cocoa, saccharine, and tomatoes;
- (4) whether, in view of the high cost of building materials and the urgent need for proceeding with the Government housing scheme, he will explain the reason for the import restrictions on the following articles: Door bells, bulbs for electric lamps, cement, crowbars, fence stretchers, gas mantles, granite, wooden handles for builders' tools, hardware, builders' joinery, locks and padlocks, mouldings, nails, painters' colours, paints, rainwater pipes and guttering, pulleys, slates, tanks, taps for gas, water, and steam, wood, and wire?
§ Sir A. GEDDESIf the hon. and gallant Member will study the movements of the New York-London rates of exchange he will, I am sure, appreciate the need of maintaining some restriction of imports until the food and raw material position is satisfactory. With regard to the importation of leather, gloves of leather, cocoa, paints, and wood, he has apparently been misinformed. These are unrestricted. In the case of many of the other goods to which he refers, the ration varies from 25 per cent, to 100 per cent, of usual imports. Full particulars were published in the Supplement to the "Board of Trade Journal" for 5th June
§ Captain BENNWill the right hon. Gentleman say, in reference to those 872 articles which are unrestricted, whether it is necessary to make application for licences to import them?
§ Sir A. GEDDESI could not answer offhand, but I imagine not.
§ Captain BENNDo they appear in the list of import restrictions?
§ Sir A. GEDDESThey appear there for a general licence.
§ Captain BENNWhat is the purpose of requiring people to ask for a licence if the import of these articles is unrestricted?
§ Sir A. GEDDESThe hon. and gallant Member, if he will follow the Regulations, will see the value of that procedure.
§ Captain BENNDoes not the right hon. Gentleman think that in this matter the interest of the consumer is being subordinated to that of the manufacturer?
§ Sir A. GEDDESOh, no. I am sure the interest of the consumer is not being sub-orlinated. The interest of the consumer is to get food and raw materials into the country as cheaply as possible, and if the exchange moves very much further against us, the prices of these things will go up enormously.
§ Captain BENNAre these restrictions applied only to those countries where the exchange is adverse?
§ Sir A. GEDDESOh, no: because that is not possible by the law of the land.
§ Sir A. GEDDESI have announced the statute several times, and I will let my hon. and gallant Friend have a copy of the answer I gave on former occasions.