§ Captain W. BENNasked the President of the Board of Trade whether any special exemption is made in this country in the case of former enemy nationals who are also British subjects, in deference to the judgment of the Lord Chancellor in the recent case of Kram v. the Attorney-General?
§ Viscount WOLMERAny application for the release of property belonging to former enemy nationals who are also British subjects, which the House of Lords decided, in the case of Kramerv. the Attorney-General, was subject to the charge under the Peace Treaties, will receive consideration.
§ Captain BENNasked the President of the Board of Trade what are the limits of the powers conferred upon the Necessitous Aliens Committee in recommending the exemptions from the charge imposed by the Peace Treaties upon the properties, 53W rights, and interests of former enemy nationals in this country; and whether any other exempting authority has been constituted?
§ Viscount WOLMERUnder their terms of reference, the Committee are authorised to recommend the release of property, subject to the charge, to the following limits:
- (1) In the case of an ex-enemy national now resident in the United Kingdom, property to the value of £1,999.
- (2) Where such ex-enemy national was the owner of a business carried on in this country before the War which was wound up under the Trading with the Enemy Acts, and such owner is now resident in this country, the Committee may recommend the release of a sum not exceeding £5,000 if the Committee are satisfied that it is desirable in the national interest that the owner should resume business.
- (3) To German nationals formerly resident in the United Kingdom but now resident elsewhere, property to the value of £500.
- (4) To other ex-enemy nationals formerly resident in the United Kingdom but now resident elsewhere, property to the value of £200.
In addition to the property referred to, the Committee are authorised to recommend the release of income up to a reasonable amount.
No other authority has been constituted to recommend the release of the property of ex-enemy nationals in this country.
§ Captain BENNasked the President of the Board of Trade whether any and, if so, what exemptions have been granted by the United States and/or Belgium from the charges imposed by the Peace Treaty upon the property, rights, and interests of former enemy nationals within their respective territories; whether any such exemption extends to American or Belgian women subjects who had become enemy nationals only by reason of marriage; and whether any similar exemption has been granted in this country in favour of British-born women in the same case?
§ Viscount WOLMERI understand that in the case of the United States the property of former enemy nationals is being released up to an amount of $10,000 in each case. The property of an American-born woman to which she is entitled in54W her own right is, I understand, also being released where her marriage to an ex-enemy national took place before the 6th April, 1917. In the case of Belgium, the property of a Belgian-born woman to which she is entitled in her own right is being released where the marriage to a former enemy national took place before the 4th August, 1914. It is the practice to release the property of British-born women, formerly married to ex-enemy nationals, who as widows or divorcees have been re-naturalised as British subjects.