§ 60. Mr. A. Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is now in a position to make a further statement on the sale of Red Cross cigarettes in Lisbon.
§ The Financial Secretary to the War Office (Mr. Arthur Henderson)I have received a report about this incident and I am circulating a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the statement:
§ Some time last year 1,750 packets of To cigarettes each, despatched by the British Red Cross War Organisation, were inadvertently included by the Portuguese Customs authorities amongst some 30,000 packets of tobacco and cigarettes forming part of a sale of apprehended goods. The packets had no outside marking indicating their British Red Cross origin. They eventually found their way into the local tobacconist shops and were placed on sale to the public. As soon as the Portuguese authorities heard that there were Red Cross cigarettes on sale they took immediate steps to recover those as yet unsold. The number of British Red Cross cigarette parcels involved was less than a quarter of one per cent. of the weekly supply sent out by the Red Cross. The publicity given to this isolated incident may have created a false impression in some quarters regarding the care taken to safeguard the Red Cross traffic by the Post Office or the Portuguese authorities. Losses of British Red Cross parcels owing to pilferage or similar causes are insignificant and I would like to take this opportunity of expressing the gratitude of His Majesty's Government for the immense amount of trouble and care exercised by the Portuguese Customs and Post Office officials in handling the enormous quantities of Red Cross supplies of all kinds passing through Lisbon.