§ Major NALLasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any information in respect to the action of the Director of Raw Materials in recently extending the character of the samples approved by the Director of Raw Materials 63W to materials and specifications which are more appropriate to those classes who can afford to pay the present market value for their boots and shoes; whether he will use his influence for the gradual withdrawal of the war-time boot scheme and exercise control in restricting the profits made by manufacturers to the percentage of profit which prevailed before August, 1914; is he aware that the Association of Distributors has protested against the extension of the war-time boot scheme as likely to depreciate in value their existing stocks; and will he withdraw the extensions and embellishments objected to preliminarily to the gradual withdrawal of the war-time boot scheme?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI must refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the full explanation on the subject of war-time boots given on the 26th February last, in reply to questions of the hon. Member for Wellingborough and the hon. and gallant Member for Bournemouth. It is true that at different times complaints have been made by sections of the trade regarding particular details of the scheme, but the Department is satisfied that great benefits have been secured to the publicthrough their being enabled to obtain 14,000,000 pairs of boots of excellent quality at controlled prices, and at the same time the trade as a whole undoubtedly recognises that its legitimate interests have been respected.