§ 7. Sir RICHARD COOPERasked the President of the Board of Trade if one or more representatives of his department, or of any other Government departments, have been sent to any place on the Continent since the armistice to negotiate for the importation into the United Kingdom of German potash; was this emissary or emissaries empowered to arrange the terms of such importation; and what are the names of such representatives and their nationality at the time of their birth?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANTwo representatives were sent in March, 1919, to Rotterdam to meet representatives of the; German Government to discuss arrangements for the importation of German potash into the United Kingdom in credit for foodstuffs, in pursuance of arrangements made at the Financial Conference held at Treves in the preceding February; and they were empowered to draw up a provisional agreement, subject to the approval of His Majesty's Government, for the purchase and importation of potash. The representatives were Mr. James Francis Ronca of the Board of Trade, and Mr. Arthur Blok of the Potash
| Grades. | Quantities covered by the Contract. | Quantities received in the U. K. to date. | Prices credited to German Government f.a.s. Rotterdam.* | ||
| Tons. | Tons. | £ | S. | d. | |
| 80 per cent. Muriate of Potash | 20,000 | 8,288 | 16 | 5 | 1 |
| 90–95 per cent. Muriate of Potash | 5,000 | 2,300 | 18 | 0 | 8 |
| 90 per cent. Sulphate of Potash | 13,500 | 5,970 | 18 | 15 | 11 |
| Potash Manure Salts (Minimum content 30 per cent. Potash as K2O). | 10,000 | 7,855 | 8 | 5 | 1 |
| Total | 48,500 | 24,413 | — | ||
| * The amount to be delivered at Rotterdam is approximately two-thirds of the whole. The remainder is to be delivered f.o.b. Hamburg at prices 5s. per ton lower than those set out above. |
§ Production Branch of the Ministry of Munitions; both representatives are British born subjects.
§ Sir R. COOPERWill the hon. Gentleman say if the latter gentleman was British at the time of his birth?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANI have just said he was a British born subject.
§ 8. Sir R. COOPERasked the President of the Board of Trade if potassium compounds are included as No. 8 in a list of articles of which importation into the United Kingdom is prohibited except under licence, the list being Command Paper 454, of 1919, issued by the Board of Trade, in November of that year; and has this Order been superseded?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANI would refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend in this House on the 18th December, from which he will see that there is at present no restriction on the importation of potassium compounds.
§ 9. Sir R. COOPERasked the President of the Board of Trade what was the total amount of the original contract for the importation of German potash, arranged by the Board of Trade; what quantities of the various grades, carnallite, kainite, muriate, and sulphate, have so far been received in this country on account of that contract; and what price per ton has been paid to Germany for the various grades of potash so imported?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANI will have a statement included in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ The following is the Statement mentioned: