§ 23. Mr. Hurdasked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware of the shortage of carpenters' pencils; and what steps he is taking to ensure that manufacturers can obtain the necessary cedar wood and other materials.
§ Mr. H. WilsonTimber supplies are still barely sufficient to enable the manufacturers to meet the demand for ordinary pencils. Carpenters' pencils are relatively heavy users of timber. While I would be ready to license manufacturers to make them for the home market, I am not prepared to bring pressure on them to do so. Solid graphite sticks which have proved an excellent substitute are available and as a result of special measures taken to develop pencil cedar wood production in Kenya, deliveries from there are increasing and an improvement in supplies of pencils for special needs, such as carpenters' pencils, should be possible later in the year.