4. Captain BENNasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, under the Safeguarding of Industries Act, Part II, Sub-section 2, the Committee had power to inquire into the effect of any proposed order on industries using the goods on which a duty was to be imposed; and whether evidence was, in fact, tendered or invited from workshops, restaurants and other establishments using for the purposes of their business the articles on which a- duty is to be laid?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONThe terms of reference to Committees appointed under Part II of the Safeguarding of Industries Act have, in accordance with Section 2 (3) of the Act, in all cases included a direction that the Committee should report on the effect which the imposition of a duty would exert on employment in any industry using goods of the description in question as material. As regards the goods covered by the draft Order, the Reports of the Committees indicate that no evidence was offered to lead them to conclude that the imposition of a duty on imports from Germany would affect employment in other industries.