§ 83 Mr. RAFFANasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether he has received a communication from the British Chemical Trade Association, dated 2nd December, 1919, relative to the distribution of dyestuffs received from Germany under the Reparation Clauses of the Peace Treaty: if so, why no reply has been given; whether any list of the dyes so imported from Germany and a statement as to quantities available has been made public;
(2) whether earlier notice was given to the Bradford Dyers' Association and the Calico Printers' Association than that published in the Press on 13th November, 1919, notifying that applications for the dyestuffs referred to must be made by the 20th November, 1919: if so, why preferential treatment was given to these trading concerns in view of the fact that the dyes used by them represent less than five per cent. of the total dyestuffs consumption of the country;
(3) why German dyestuffs, imported under the Peace Treaty and therefore the property of the nation, were not sold by public auction or in the open market, in order to obtain the best possible price, instead of the method employed, by which certain trading associations appear to have received preferential treatment to the detriment of the public purse: and what steps have been taken, or are proposed to be taken, regarding the distribution of the last and future consignments of the dyestuffs from Germany?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANThe letter from the British Chemical Trade Association to which my hon. Friend refers was the last of a series of communications which were carefully considered, but on which the Board of Trade did not see their way to take any action as they appeared to be based on a number of misapprehensions. The actual facts are that the' method of distributing the dyestuffs received from 421 Germany as part of reparation was adopted on the recommendation of the Colour Users' Association, which is a body representing a large number of consumers of dyestuffs not only in the textile trades, and a still larger proportion of the actual consumption. It was decided that the dyestuffs to be received should be allocated at fixed prices according to proportionate requirements rather than sold by auction or in the open market, so that the smaller consumers should receive a share and not be outbidden by the larger and wealthier concerns, and that allocations should be made only to consumers and not to dealers or other intermediaries. The proceeds of the sale of the dyestuffs are credited to the General Reparation Fund under the Treaty of Peace; and it is obviously not desirable that the prices charged in this country should be higher than those charged in other countries which also receive supplies as part of reparation. The Colour Users' Association prepared a detailed statement of the collective requirements of their members, including the Bradford Dyers' Association and the Calico Printers' Association, without reference to the possible supplies obtainable from Germany, as information on that point was not available at the time. The notice in the Board of Trade Journal of the 13th November was intended to give consumers not members of the Association a similar opportunity of putting in statements as to their requirements, and was largely so utilised. No preferential treatment of any kind in respect either of notification of the classes of dyes obtainable from Germany or of the allocation of dyes received has been given to the two trade associations named by my hon. Friend The question of the desirability of modifying the arrangements in respect of future consignments is under consideration.
§ Mr. RAFFANWhy was no reply given to the final communication from the British Chemical Trade Association; and if their case was based upon a series of inaccuracies why were these not pointed out?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANI was not aware that a reply was not sent. I am sorry if there has been any discourtesy, but only an acknowledgment could have been sent.
§ Mr. RAFFANIf the Association desires to make further representations will they be considered?
§ Mr. BRIDGEMANOh, yes.