Mr. F. GREENasked the President of the Board of Trade, whether his attention has been drawn to the meeting of the Tincroft Mining Company of Cornwall, and the statement thereat by the chairman that an arrangement was made during the War with America concerning the supplies of tin and copper in which sacrifices were imposed upon the local mining industry while the Government took the whole of the advantage; and the further statement that employers in this industry considered themselves entitled to compensation for their treatment at the Government's hands during the War, and whether he will give briefly the terms of this agreement with America as to tin and copper and indicate if it was onerous to production in Cornwall?
Mr. HOPEI have been asked to answer this question. The answer to the first part of the question is "Yes." About the middle of 1918 an agreement was made with certain of the Allied Powers, including this country and America, to form an Inter-Allied Tin Executive. This body, by eliminating competition, undoubtedly prevented a general rise in the market price of supplies urgently required for War purposes. No such arrangement was made for copper, which was purchased through the usual channels set up for contracting in America.