Mr. T. THOMSONasked the President of the Board of Trade what were the quantities, in weight, of dyestuffs imported during 1924 from Germany, Switzerland, France, America, and other sources, respectively; and what was the quantity of dyestuffs imported from Germany on reparation account during the same period?
§ Mr. A. M. SAMUELThe following statement gives the information desired by the hon. Member:
§ Mr. A. M. SAMUELThe contracts for all ships sold by the Ministry of Shipping at the time mentioned were between the Ministry and the individual purchasers in each country. Over £45,000,000 was paid in cash at dates of delivery and over £24,000,000, exclusive of interest, has since been collected in instalments where the contracts provided for payments over a period of years. The balance remaining to be collected is £450,482 in respect of 17 vessels from seven shipping companies—two British, one Belgian, one French and three Italian—the amounts outstanding being respectively £18,329, £189,000, £10,833 and £232,320. The 17 vessels on which payments are still outstanding are all the "standard" type 813W and were sold for £3,570,000; the security for payment on four vessels is London Bank guarantee; on 11 is mortgage and bills accepted in London and on the remaining two is mortgage only. In the ease of three companies outside the United Kingdom, the purchaser failed to complete payment of the instalments, and foreclosure was made under the terms of the mortgage.