§ Sir E. CORNWALLasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will state the results to date of the policy of the Government in interesting the country financially in the promotion of the British dye industry; and when the whole question will be brought under Parliamentary review?
Mr. HARCOURTThe number of shares in British Dyes, Limited, applied for at the date the company went to allotment was 630,000, and this number had increased, by 21st June last, to 841,000. The erection of extensive new plant for the production of intermediate products and finished dyes is being proceeded with as rapidly as is possible in existing circumstances, and the monthly output of finished dyes, though seriously restricted by the shortage of essential materials, is now double that of May, 1915, when the company took over the works of Messrs. Read, Holliday, and Sons. The whole question of the future of the British dye industry is receiving the earnest attention of His Majesty's Government.