HC Deb 12 May 1915 vol 71 cc1663-4W
Mr. JOYNSON-HICKS

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has any information as to the prices the Royal Niger Company are charging our soldiers in West Africa for tinned meats, provisions, etc.; whether, at the commencement of the War the company charged 7½ per cent. extra on their pre-War prices; and what percentage is now permitted?

Mr. HARCOURT

I have no information on the present position and I am not aware that any complaints have been made. At the outbreak of the War Committees of Control were appointed in Nigeria, as in many other Colonies, and the maximum prices at which imported provisions or other victuals could be sold to the public were fixed at 7½ per cent. above pre-War prices; but this emergency measure was, I understand, abrogated when oversea communications became more normal and such restrictions were no longer required. I should add that the Niger Company is only one of the large number of firms to whom the measure applied.