§ 5. Mr. SEDDONasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that, of the forty-six members of the Central Committee of the Profiteering Act who attended the meeting during the railway strike, only two were able to attend from the provinces out of a total of 143 members; whether he is aware of the feeling caused by the fact that these forty-six persons, almost wholly Metropolitan and official members, should have arrogated to themselves the functions which the President of the Board of Trade invited the whole 143 to assist him in carrying out; whether he is aware that the chairman of the meeting on 1st October publicly admitted he had gone behind the members' backs to privately discuss with Mr. Sidney Webb how the work of the Central Committee was to be cut and dried; that a promise was wired to one member stranded at Penzance that another meeting should be shortly be held to complete the meeting of 1st October, but that such promise has been openly ignored; whether he is aware that those members of his committee who have been ignored by the minority are about to commence a public Agitation against the methods he has adopted; that these protests were also repeated at the consumers' council of the Food Ministry; and whether he will at once call a meeting -of the Central Committee under the Profiteering Act to complete the work improperly attempted on 1st October?
§ 16. Major HURSTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that, owing to the railway strike, about two-thirds of the members of the Central Profiteering Committee were prevented from attending its meeting on 1st October; whether all the functions of the Committee were at such meeting delegated to various standing committees; whether he is aware of the resentment felt in the North of England at the consequent exclusion of its representatives from the standing committees; and what action he proposes to take?
§ Sir A. GEDDESI am aware that owing to the railway strike a large number of the members of the Central Committee were unable to attend the meeting held on 30th September last. I would, 1413 however, remind the, hon. Members that, as I have already explained in answer to questions on this subject, the functions of the Central Committee are merely to appoint its three standing committees and to act as a panel from which members may be chosen for the various sub-comrnittees to deal with certain specific subjects. Every member of the Central Committee, whether present at the first meeting or not, has boon appointed to one or more of the standing committees and these committees have all been actively at work.