80. Mr. C. I. Orr-Ewingasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has been able to obtain sufficient supplies of newsprint so as to avoid any cut in the present size of local or national newspapers.
Mr. Rhode.We are obtaining the maximum possible production of newsprint from the home mills. Imported newsprint is purchased by the Newsprint Supply Company, a body set up by the newspapers themselves, and all contracts are negotiated by them. Although for some time past we have been prepared to license imports freely from soft currency sources and have also placed some two and a half million pounds' worth of Canadian dollars at the Company's disposal, I understand that they have not been able to obtain sufficient supplies to avoid a further cut.