Lieut.-Colonel SPENDER CLAYasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions what is the amount, if any, and value of Govern- 650W ment stocks of wool, cotton, copper, lead, and tin; whether the Disposal Board have withdrawn any of these stores from sale owing to the recent fall in prices; and whether the policy of the Disposal Board is to maintain prices at their present level?
Mr. HOPEIt would not be in the interest of the Revenue to give the information asked for in the first part of the question, except that I may say that no stocks of tin are now held by the Disposal Board. The buying demand for the materials in question has temporarily decreased, owing largely to the fact that users are already holding considerable stocks; and, while it is not proposed to sell further stocks to speculative buyers at the present prices, there is no intention on the part of His Majesty's Government to keep back supplies from actual consumers. It is the policy of the Board to follow the market, and neither to raise nor depress it.