§ 53. Sir FRANK NELSONasked the President of the Board of Trade the number of bales of short staple American cotton imported into Great Britain during 1926, as compared with short staple Indian cotton?
Mr. SAMUELThe official trade returns divide the imports of raw cotton into two categories only namely, "of 1¼ inch staple and over," and "under 1¼ inch staple." The imports of raw cotton (except linters) under 1¼ inch staple from the United States in 1926 amounted to 10,626,000 centals of 100 lbs., and those from British India to 670,000 centals of 100 lbs.
§ Sir SYDNEY HENNCould my hon. Friend give the House his own interpretation of the phrase "short staple"?
Mr. SAMUELI did find some difficulty in interpreting the word "short." In India, short staple cotton—and the bulk of Indian cotton is short staple—means under ¾ inch. As regards America, there is very little short staple cotton; it is mostly middling, that is to say, ⅞ inch to 1¼ inch. For that reason, I framed my reply on the lines used by the Trade Accounts.