§ 12. Mr. WILLS (for Mr. HANNON)asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the latest available information relating to the development of cotton growing in Barbados; and if the Cotton Growers' Association in that Colony will receive the sympathetic support of his Department through the Colonial Development Fund or otherwise?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERAs a result of the conference of West Indian Sea Island cotton growers held in Barbados in the spring of 1932, steps are being taken for the formation of a West Indian cotton growers' association, the object of which will be to regulate production and to stimulate the expansion of the use of Sea Island cotton. The movement has my sympathetic support, and I am in communication with the West Indian Governments concerned with regard to the steps to be taken to further the work of the association. I hope that the energetic efforts which are being made by certain Lancashire and Cheshire spinners and manufacturers in Nottingham and Manchester, with the co-operation of the West India committee, to expand the market for this high-grade product, may prove of considerable benefit to Barbados and other West Indian islands which produce the crop.