§ Mr. W. NICHOLSONasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office what were the prices fixed by the Wool Committee for the purchase of wool from farmers for the years 1916, 1917, and 1918; what were the prices at which the wool was sold by the War Office to manufacturers; whether the same Committee was responsible for fixing the prices to the farmer and also the woollen manufacturers; and what was the total profit made by the War Office on the wool transactions?
Mr. HOPEAs regard the first and second parts of the question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the Noble Lord the Member for Aldershot on May 7th, of which I am sending him a copy. I then explained that the official price lists for the various types of wool grown in the United Kingdom have each season been published locally, and that it was impossible to give any reliable 197W comparison between the buying price for any type of wool and the selling prices to the manufacturers of the various grades made from it. The answer to the third part of the question is in the negative. As regards the last part of the question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. and gallant Member for Abingdon on April 29th of which I am sending a copy.