§ 11 p.m.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply (Colonel Llewellin)I beg to move,
That the Papermaking Materials (Charges) (No. 1) Order, 1940, made by the Treasury under Section 2 of the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939, a copy of which was presented to this House on 4th April, be approved.At this late hour I do not think the House will expect me to say very much upon this Order, but I will explain it 510 very shortly. The whole point of the Order is to ensure that there is fair dealing between those who use the raw materials for papermaking. At the beginning of the war there was requisitioning of stocks of papermaking material in the hands of manufacturers, who got them at a much cheaper price than that which has reigned ever since. We have again had to increase the price of such articles, and the time has now come when we have to even out once again between those who have stocks and those who have not got them. This Order deals with the matter by imposing a levy on the stocks that are held in the hands of manufacturers of paper, so as to put them on an equal footing with those who have not stocks. The House will realise that with the increased freight charges that have arisen since the war and a large amount of our papermaking material comes in foreign ships, we cannot always maintain those supplies at the same price, and the whole policy of this Order, which, because it imposes a levy, has to carry an affirmative Resolution of the House to equalise the burdens on those who have the stocks and those who have not.
§ Question put, and agreed to.
§ Resolved,
§ "That the Papermaking Materials (Charges) (No. 1) Order, 1940, made by the Treasury under Section 2 of the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939, a copy of which was presented to this House on 4th April, be approved."
§ The remaining Orders were read, and postponed.