20 Dr. MURRAYasked the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether under the Committee appointed by him to consider the application for the imposing of an additional 33⅓ per cent. duty upon spectacles and spectacle frames, the investigations covers all kinds of spectacle frames, whether made of gold, rolled gold, steel, aluminium, horn, celluloid, or other materials, or if it would be sufficient to show that any one kind of spectacle frame is being imported into the United Kingdom under the depreciated currency conditions contemplated by the Safeguarding of Industries Act, as suggested by the applicants now appearing before the Committee, in order to have all kinds of frames included in the Order asked for:
(2) whether the terms of reference of the Optical and Scientific Instrument Committee appointed by him include calculating apparatus, cylinders and slide rules, also electrical goods and instruments, ammeters, voltmeters, etc., seeing that the total imports from all countries for six months only amounted to £5,239; if not, if he will in appointing further Committees clearly state what their terms of reference include, and thus avoid the labour and expense involved in the preparing of statements and the bringing of witnesses, often from a long distance, before the Committee, to state there is no justification for the making of an Order;
(3) whether he has appointed a Committee to inquire into the imports of optical and scientific instruments; and, if so, whether their terms of reference include dental, surgical, and medical instruments and appliances, seeing that the total imports of these articles from all countries for the six months ending 31st March amounted only to £111?
19. Mr. FOOTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that, under the title of optical and scientific instruments and optical elements, over 1,000 different articles are embraced, 1661 and that it was stated before the Committee who are considering the application for the imposing of an additional 33⅓ per cent. duty upon these goods, that it is not necessary to consider each article, but only one or two, as the recommendation in regard to these would apply to all others; and whether he will say if this proposal has received his sanction, in view of the divergent nature of the commodities referred to?
§ Mr. BALDWINThe terms of reference to the Committee cover optical elements and optical and other scientific instruments, and the Committee are directed to report whether the conditions laid down in the Act are fulfilled with regard to all or any particular varieties of such articles. The Committee will no doubt exercise their discretion as to how far they should require separate evidence in regard to any particular variety of instruments concerned; they will also no doubt bear in mind their terms of reference in deciding whether or not to admit evidence in regard to any particular class of article. Spectacle frames are not included in any of the lists which have been issued by the Board of Trade defining the general descriptions of goods mentioned in the Schedule to the Act under the headings of optical elements and optical or other scientific instruments, nor do they fall under the general descriptions given under these headings in the Schedule. The import figures quoted in Questions 21 and 22 are quite inaccurate, as they are not the value of the goods, but the amounts of duty collected thereon.