HC Deb 16 December 1935 vol 307 cc1378-9
8. Rear-Admiral Sir MURRAY SUETER

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will state, for the guidance of British investors who have provided the funds for the construction and maintenance of Argentine railways, upon which they receive no return, whether the Road and Rail Co-ordination Bill has yet passed through the Argentine legislature and been put into operation?

The MINISTER for LEAGUE of NATIONS AFFAIRS (Mr. Anthony Eden)

A bill providing for the co-ordination of transport in Argentina was passed by the Chamber of Deputies during the recent session of Congress and will come up before the Senate when Congress re-assembles.

16. Sir M. SUETER

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will remind the Argentine Government's commercial counsellor now in London that the British-owned railways in Argentina are exempted from federal and provincial taxation under the Mitré law; and will he represent that the taxation of the railways by the action of the Argentine Government in fixing the purchase rate of pesos at 15 to the £ and the selling rate at 17 may cease, and that the amount collected from the railways by this method be refunded to the railways prior to the ratification of a renewal of the Anglo-Argentine Trade Agreement?

Mr. EDEN

His Majesty's Government have been carefully watching the development of the situation in regard to the British-owned railways in Argentina, and they have quite recently authorised His Majesty's Ambassador to invite the attention of the President of the Argentine Republic to the various difficulties of the companies, including those occasioned by the rate at which the companies are at present forced to remit their earnings.