Colonel BURNasked the Secretary for War whether Mr. F. Tiarks has been appointed financial adviser to the Military Governor of Cologne; is this gentleman a director of the Bank of England and a partner of Schroeder Brothers, of London; what is his connection with Schroeder Gebruder, of Hamburg; and whether he is aware that he is a grandson of a Lutheran clergyman in Germany?
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§ Mr. CHURCHILLGeneral Sir Herbert Plumber applied for a civilian adviser of financial and commercial experience to assist him on questions of a non-military nature affecting the occupied territory and Mr. Tiarks was selected for appointment as Civil Commissioner in view of his special qualifications. Mr. Tiarks is a director of the Bank of England, and a partner, not of Schroeder Brothers, but of J. Henry Schroeder and Company, of London, a purely British firm, established here in 1804. Neither he nor his firm is connected with Schroeder Brothers, nor with any other German firm. His grandfather was born in Germany, came to England as a young man, lived there the rest of his life, and married an Englishwoman. For further information as to Mr. Tiarks' services in the Royal Navy and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the answer of the Financial Secretary to the Admiralty on 26th July, 1917.