Major BARNESasked the President of the Board of Trade how the loan to the British Flax and Hemp Growers' Society of £4,450, and to the British Sugar Beet Growers' Society of £170,125, is secured?
Sir A. BOSCAWENThe loan from the Development Fund to the British Flax and Hemp Growers' Society was £4,150, not £4,450. The conditions provided that at the close of the working period of five years, the Society should pay over to the Treasury for the credit of the Development Fund the realised value of the machinery and buildings, provided out of the loan, and also repay the loan for working capital less any loss actually incurred in working the factory during the five-year period. The agreement terminated on the 31st July last, and a settlement of accounts is now taking place. The loan from the Development Fund to the British Sugar Beet Growers' Society was £130,125, not £170,125, and it is secured on the Society's estate at Kelham by a mortgage at 5 per cent. interest. The amount of the loan now stands at £82,375, as a portion of the estate has been purchased by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for the purpose of land settlement. The Society is now in a position to repay these loans, as they have sold the estate to a new company called "Home Grown Sugar, Ltd."