§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYasked the President of the Board of Trade why Messrs. Slaughter and May were asked to prepare a memorandum and articles of association for the purpose of incorporating the British Empire Exhibition when Messrs. Church, Rackham and Company were the appointed solicitors, and had already prepared the memorandum and articles of association, which they had also already submitted to the Board of Trade for approval in the usual way; and who gave the instructions to Messrs. Slaughter and May?
§ Sir P. LLOYD-GREAMEBy an agreement dated the 3rd June, 1919, two independent bodies, known as the British Dominions Exhibitions, Ltd., and the London Great Exhibition, agreed to amalgamate, and appointed a joint provisional committee on which both sides were represented to initiate the organisation of the British Empire Exhibition. A memorandum and articles of association were prepared by Messrs. Church, Rackham on the instructions of a single member of this committee, acting independently of his colleagues, who were unaware of their preparation or submission to the Board of Trade. The committee subsequently instructed Messrs. Slaughter and May, who acted as solicitors to the Franco-British Exhibition, to prepare the memorandum and articles of association, which were in due course approved by the Board of Trade. I understand that Messrs. Church, Rackham and Company, and Messrs. Slaughter and May are now joint solicitors to the British Empire Exhibition.