§ 61. Mr. Hammersleyasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that large quantities of cotton piece goods, originally intended for the Dutch East Indies, are held up in Manchester warehouses; that permission to transfer these goods to the West African market is being withheld by the Cotton Board; that the owners of these goods are, in consequence, forced to incur substantial additional charges for interest, 1681 storage and insurance; and what steps he is taking to ensure that this delay involving wasteful expenditure with consequent unnecessarily high charges to approved, friendly and willing purchasers, is brought to an end?
§ Mr. Harcourt Johnstone (Secretary, Department of Overseas Trade)Yes, Sir. Negotiations are proceeding which, I hope, will satisfactorily resolve these difficulties.
§ Mr. HammersleyAs these negotiations have now been going on for something like two months, is it not quite clear that it is in everybody's interest that this unnecessary delay should cease, and could not the goods be disposed of?
§ Mr. JohnstoneI am hoping that the negotiations will be satisfactorily concluded very soon.