§ Lieut.-Colonel FREMANTLEasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Overseas. Trade Department if he is aware that the British import and export trade with Smyrna was, up to the time of the recent fire, greater than that of any other country; that this trade has now entirely stopped; if he is aware of the hardships, caused by the non-payment of fire claims by fire insurance companies concerned; and if, in view of the fact that the nonpayment of these claims is an obstacle to the revival of trade with Smyrna, he can cause inquiries to be made into the; matter?
§ Lieut.-Colonel BUCKLEYAs regards the first part of the question, I regret that no statistics are available which would show the relative volume of the trade of this and other countries with Smyrna during the period between the Armistice and its recapture by the Turkish forces. The answers to the second and third parts of the question are in the affirmative. As regards the last part of the question I do not think that this is a matter in which I can properly intervene.