§ Mr. NOEL BUXTONasked the President of the Board of Trade what action he proposes to take regarding the Report of the Coal Committee whereby the price of coal may be reduced, especially to those who are only able to purchase it in small quantities?
Mr. RUNCIMANI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to-day to the questions on the same subject by my hon. Friends the Members for Attercliffe, Blackburn and North-East Lanarkshire.
§ Mr. HOLMESasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the results of his interviews with coal owners and coal merchants with regard to the probable course of prices in the coming season?
Mr. RUNCIMANThe matters referred to by my hon. Friend are still under discussion, and I am not yet in a position to make a full statement. The representatives of the coal owners who met me at the Board of Trade on 22nd April subsequently passed the following resolution
This meeting of coal owners, having a desire to Moderate the prices of coal for home consumption, as far as may be practicable in the interest of the country, recommend that the question of the prices of such coal be considered by the coal owners in the various districts with this object in view.