HC Deb 03 March 1931 vol 249 cc361-2

5. "That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £246,990, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1931, for Expenditure arising out of Contracts dated 9th April, 1918, and 3rd March, 1922, entered into with the Zinc Producers' Association Proprietary, Limited, to give effect to agreements made in 1916 and 1917 for the purchase of Zinc Concentrates."

First and Second Resolutions agreed to.

Third Resolution read a Second time.

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House doth agree with the Committee in the said Resolution."

Captain CROOKSHANK

May I ask the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if he will take this opportunity of correcting an obvious error in what he said the other night on this Vote? I If he will turn to Column 2228 of the OFFICIAL REPORT for 25th February—and I am sure he will not want it to go uncorrected—he will see that he stated that money was apparently required to pay for paper on which to print the new Telephone Directory, which had not been printed and would not be printed before the end of the financial year. There must be some mistake. It has been printed, and it is now in course of being delivered to subscribers. [An HON. MEMBER: "The first half of it!"] The first half. According to what the hon. Gentleman said, it was not to be printed before the end of the year. Perhaps he will put the matter right, and assure us that he has taken enough money for this service and will not have to come back for another Supplementary Estimate before the end of the financial year.

Mr. PETHICK-LAWRENCE

I am glad to have the hon. and gallant Gentleman's reminder that there was an inaccuracy. I am not sure whether I said that, but I was really answering a question asked by the hon. Member for Farnham (Mr. A. M. Samuel) as to whether we got the money from the Post Office. I was endeavouring to answer the question by saying that we had to pay for the paper. I think the hon. and gallant Gentleman is right in saying that the actual printing has already taken place. I must have made a mistake. If it appears in the OFFICIAL REPORT, I no doubt said it.

Captain CROOKSHANK

Will the hon. Gentleman assure us that he has taken enough money?

Mr. PETHICK-LAWRENCE

Yes, certainly.

Question put, and agreed to.

Fourth and Fifth Resolutions agreed to.