HC Deb 10 June 1918 vol 106 cc1890-1W
Mr. JOYNSON-HICKS

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether the firm of Endemann and Company, Limited, of Glasgow, was really the business of one Walther Hugo Endemann, a German resident in Switzerland; whether, though the business was ordered to be wound up in April, 1916, it has only just been liquidated; whether his two assistants, Koch and Peters, both naturalised Germans, have been allowed to carry on the same business at the same address ever since; and what is the benefit of liquidating Endemann's business if two naturalised Germans, his previous assistants, are allowed to carry it on and continue to export coal from this country?

Sir A. STANLEY

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question. Almost all the capital of Endemann and Company, Limited, was held by W. H. Endemann, a German subject resident in Switzerland, and his wife. The business was ordered to be wound up on the 25th July, 1916, and was brought to an end within a week of that date. Owing to the impossibility of realising debts due to the company by persons in enemy countries, the liquidation cannot be finally completed during the War, and on the 22nd May the Court made an order, on the petition of the Board of Trade, for the winding-up of the company. No part of the business has been sold to Messrs. Koch and Peters, and licences to export coal are not granted to them.

Mr. JOYNSON - HICKS

asked the Secretary for Scotland whether H. Lindeman, Glasgow, is a naturalised Prussian trading as a coal exporter; whether he is a brother of the burgomaster at Kiel; and why licences are granted to a man who has such relationships to export coal from this country?

Captain VISCOUNT WOLMER

(War Trade Department): The Secretary for Scotland has asked me to reply to this question. H. Lindeman is of Prussian or German origin, and the answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative. He has been a member of the firm of Burns and Lindeman since 1893, when it was established, and was naturalised as a British subject in 1897. The firm carries on in Glasgow the business of a coal exporter, and after a full inquiry made in 1915, no reason was found for refusing to this firm licences for export which are only granted where the consignees are approved, and guarantees are given precluding the possibility of consignments reaching an enemy destination.