Mr. DOYLEasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that it is proposed that only 7,000 of the 17,000 443W tons of binder-twine required for the 1919 harvest is to be manufactured in this country; that if such proposal is carried into effect the mills of the British firms now engaged in the manufacture of binder-twine will be obliged to close down; that the British firms have offered to manufacture all that is required for the 1919 harvest as cheaply as the Americans; and whether, in view of the need for employment at the present time, and of the additional information which has been privately placed at his disposal, he can now state that British firms will be preferred on equal terms to their foreign competitors, and that the proposed order for a stated amount of American binder-twine shall be cancelled?
Sir A. BOSCAWENOn the 21st November last at a meeting held at the Food Production Department the home manufactures of binding-twine asked that 5,000 tons should be imported from America. The Board have recommended the Import Restriction Department to issue licences to import 4,000 tons only, and if they were satisfied that the British makers would meet the home demand at a reasonable price, they would not object that the quantity to be imported should be reduced to 2,000 tons.