§ 42. Mr. LIVINGSTONEasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department whether he is aware of the Resolution, passed unanimously at a general meeting of the Indian Merchants' Association on 27th May, 1925, protesting against goods of non-Indian origin being sold in the Indian Pavilion at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley; and whether, in view of the fact that two stalls in the Indian Pavilion were closed last year for a similar offence, he will make representations to the exhibition authorities to prevent the competition from these machine-made goods which are detrimental to the sale and advertisement of the hand-made goods brought from India?
Mr. SAMUELThe answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. With regard to the second part of the question, I am informed by the British 17 Empire Exhibition authorities that it was originally intended that the Indian Pavilion should be reserved exclusively for Indian handicrafts and manufactures, but owing to the fact that a sufficient number of exhibits did not arrive from India, it was decided, while maintaining the predominantly Indian character of the exhibit, to allow goods which had been manufactured in other parts of the Empire.