§ Mr. MARRIOTTasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that the Army, despite the fact that their own requirements are less than one-ninth of the average yield of hay, have taken possession of the whole of the 1918 crop of hay and straw, and that the administrative member of the Forage Committee has abolished direct dealing between producer and consumer and set up a scheme of allotment and distribution through county committees in spite of the Army Order of 17th July, 1917; whether he proposes to place the lifting of civilian supplies of forage entirely under Army control; whether protests against such a scheme of military trading and control have been received from merchant retail distributors, railway companies, and other large consumers; and, if so, whether the Government will restore free bargaining at controlled prices as regards all forage not required for the use of the Army?
§ Mr. FORSTERSuch changes as have recently been made in the control and distribution of hay and straw are due not to any action on the part of the Administrative Member, Forage Committee, but to a scheme propounded by the recently appointed Central Council for Civil Supplies, upon which body producers, dealers, and consumers are equally represented.