§ 61. Mr. JOHNSTONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been drawn to the pleas in the case of Martin v. Lowry, in the King's Bench Division, in which it is admitted that a purchaser made a net profit of £1,900,000 upon the re-sale of the Government's stores of unbleached linen; whether he is aware that the stock was sold by the Aircraft Disposal Department during a period of linen shortage; if he can say how the price was arrived at and if there was no public auction; and if he is prepared to lay Papers upon this transaction before the House?
Mr. GUINNESSMy attention has been called to this case. I find that the late Ministry of Munitions were faced with the problem of disposing of some 45 million yards of aeroplane linen. Having regard to the heavy cost of storage and administration, and to the saving of interest, they accepted, in June, 1919, after many efforts to dispose of the linen, both in small lots and wholesale, the best offer which entailed clearance of the whole amount in six months. There was no auction. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.
§ Mr. JOHNSTONCan the right hon. Gentleman say why there was no auction in the case of that transaction, which has resulted in a profit of almost £2,000,000 to the purchaser, and is it not the case that the Belfast linen manufacturers were at that time suffering from a shortage of material?
Mr. GUINNESSI understand there is a very restricted market for purchases on this enormous scale, and Ministers did their best to get offers from various people who were interested. After selling a certain amount of the linen in small quantities, they found it best, on their then information, to accept this offer.
§ Mr. JOHNSTONHas the right hon. Gentleman examined the papers in the case? Has he seen that this offer was accepted on the basis that only £50,000 would be taken until the purchaser was able to sell sufficient stocks to pay the Government his £50,000?
Mr. GUINNESSI have seen the papers. I do not really think the fact that the purchaser, entirely by his own exertions, was able to make a large profit, is fully relevant to the wisdom of the decision of the Ministry of Munitions, seeing that in many other transactions which they carried out at the same time the purchasers were left with very heavy losses.
§ Mr. DUFF COOPERWhat was the purchase price?