§ 68. Miss RATHBONEasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been directed to the evidence given to the United States of America arms inquiry, that the Soley Armament Company of London had informed its American agents in 1934 that anti-aircraft guns, though they could not be sold direct to Bolivia while it was at war, could probably be sold to an American armament firm for eventual resale to Bolivia; also to the evidence of Mr. Carse, president of the Electric Boat Company of America, that ammunition sold to his firm by Vickers, Limited, had been resold to Peru during that country's dispute with Colombia over the Leticia territory; and whether he will inform the House what precautions are taken by the Government to ensure that the final as well as the immediate destination of munitions licensed for export is known to the Government?
§ Mr. EDENYes, Sir. I have taken note of the evidence to which the hon. Member refers. The hon. Member will doubtless have observed that in the letter which the Soley Armament Company are reported to have addressed to the American Armament Corporation about the possible export of arms to Bolivia, they also said that they must first be informed of the ultimate destination of all arms orders, so that they might submit the name of the purchasing Government to the British authorities and obtain their permission. I should confirm this by saying that an application by any British company for a licence simply to export anti-aircraft guns to their agents in the United tates would have met with a refusal.
The ammunition mentioned in the evidence of Mr. Carse was exported under licence to the Peruvian Government, for whom the Electric Boat Company were acting as accredited agents. It should be added that there was no question of any international restriction of the export of arms to Peru being enforced at the time when the transaction took place.
In the issue of licences for the export of arms the precaution is taken that such licences should only be issued on condition that the owner or shipper, if so required by the Commissioners of 2153 Customs and Excise, shall produce to them proofs to their satisfaction that the goods were delivered to the destination to which those goods were consigned. It is a general rule that licences for the export of war material are only issued for exports to foreign Governments or to their accredited agents for delivery to them.
§ Miss RATHBONEIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the chairman of Messrs. Vickers himself stated at the annual meeting of the shareholders that he could give no guarantee that arms sold by his firm were not eventually resold to other countries, even to Germany for rearmament; but that he added that nothing was done without the sanction of the Government? If the chairman can give no guarantee, is it not evident that there is grave uncertainty?
§ Mr. EDENI cannot say anything about that. All I can say is that the obligation is clear. Licences for the export of war material are only issued from this country for export to foreign Governments or the accredited agents for delivery to those Governments.