Cotton Industry

HC Deb 10 October 1944 vol 403 cc1554-7

32. Mr. Hamilton Kerr

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is satisfied that the cotton textile machine industry is in a position to fulfil the urgent demands that are likely to be made upon it after the war, given the vital need of equipping mills and the most modern machinery.

Mr. Dalton

Yes, Sir. I have recently discussed this matter with the Cotton Board and with the textile machinery makers, for whom I have since arranged an increased allocation of iron and steel. In proportion as they are released from war contracts, on which they are still largely engaged, they should be able to provide an increasing quantity of machinery for the re-equipment of the cotton industry. But I hope that cotton spinners and manufacturers will not delay in placing their orders.

Mr. Hammersley

Is my right hon. Friend satisfied, not only in respect to materials, which he has told us about, but also in respect to prices? Will they be really competitive prices?

Mr. Dalton

We are here speaking of supply to the home markets; the question does not relate to export.

Mr. Hammersley

I want to know whether the right hon. Gentleman is satisfied that the supply of materials for the manufacturers of textile machinery will be available not only in due time, but at a price which will be world competitive, so that the reorganisation of the cotton trade can proceed along world competitive lines?

Mr. Dalton

I hope so; but I am in constant touch with the industry, and various sections of it, and if they have any suggestions to make to me, I shall be only too glad to hear them.

Captain Prescott

As the extent to which the industry will avail itself of the opportunity to instal new machinery will largely depend on my right hon. Friend's attitude to the industry, does he think that his statement on the Report on the Cotton Industry is adequate in that connection?

Mr. Dalton

I think it provides a good start; and there is a further Question about that later on.

33. Mr. Hamilton Kerr

asked the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has for the reopening of the cotton spinning companies closed down in the concentration scheme.

Mr. Dalton

As I informed my hon. Friend the Member for Moss Side (Mr. Rostron Duckworth) and my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for East Leicester (Colonel Lyons) on 26th September, complete deconcentration of industry is unlikely to be possible until after both Germany and Japan have been defeated; but, as soon as sufficient labour and material become available, a start will be made with reopening some closed firms. The Cotton Board is now considering the matter, in consultation with representatives of both running and closed mills.

Mr. Kerr

Does my right hon. Friend realise that such delay may be extremely dangerous, in view of the fact that he must make every effort to increase our cotton exports? Cannot something be done sooner?

Mr. Dalton

It is not a question of something being done sooner: it is a question of the available labour being employed. The running cotton mills are short of labour, and they can absorb all the labour immediately available without other mills being opened.

Mr. Kerr

Will my right hon. Friend approach the Minister of Labour, to get more labour?

Mr. Dalton

Yes, Sir; but always subject to the requirements of the war effort.

Captain Cobb

Is the right hon. Gentleman combing out Government offices for surplus labour?

37. Major Gates

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he can make any statement of post-war export policy for the cotton industry.

Mr. Dalton

As has been frequently stated, it is the aim of the Government, after the war, that exports shall be increased by at least 50 per cent. over their pre-war volume. The Government count on the cotton industry, as I said at Manchester last month, to play its full part in this expansion. With a view to this, I urged the industry to take certain immediate steps to increase its efficiency.

Major Gates

Has my right hon. Friend received any representations from any commercial attaché?

Mr. Dalton

We are constantly receiving representations from commercial attachés on this subject.

Mr. Boothby

How does my right hon. Friend intend to increase our exports by 50 per cent. in the absence of any discriminatory commercial agreement?

Mr. Dalton

That question raises wider issues of commercial policy generally, and goes beyond cotton.

Captain Prescott

Does my right hon. Friend not realise that it is useless merely to exhort the industry to increase its exports, unless the Government provide some facilities for the industry to get into foreign markets and the markets of the Empire?

Mr. Dalton

As I also stated on the occasion referred to, when I visited Man- chester, it is the view of the Government that for some time to come after the war the cotton industry should be able to sell overseas, at good prices, all it can produce. I see no reason whatever for any pessimism in the short run, and I hope we are going to co-operate to make a long run policy that will be satisfactory. The immediate issue before the cotton industry will not be to find markets, but to have the labour and materials made available in order to enable it to sell in overseas markets.

Mr. Bowles

Would it not be a good economic policy to ensure that every consumer of cotton goods-in this country was served before any cotton goods were exported?

Mr. Dalton

No, Sir, that would not be a good policy. It would mean that the people of this country would fail to secure the imports necessary in order that they should have a proper standard of living. The policy of the Government, which has been frequently indicated, is to keep a proper balance between home and export trade.

44. Mr. Hammersley

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is taking any steps to implement the five point policy for the cotton trade which he recently put before the Cotton Board.

Mr. Dalton

These five points call for action by the industry itself, and I am glad to hear that the Post-War Committee of the Cotton Board are losing no time in starting work on them. I shall, of course, keep in close touch with the Committee.

Mr. Hammersley

Would my right hon. Friend consider the desirability of asking the industry to set up a specific committee to deal with the problem of a better integrated selling organisation?

Mr. Dalton

That was the third point which I put to the Committee—to overhaul the merchanting organisation—and I am very anxious that they should do it, but I think I had better not dictate to the industry what committees they should set up. The Cotton Board has already set up a committee to deal with post-war problems, and we had better leave it at that.