§ Sir R. Rankinasked the Minister of Health in respect to the recent purchases of whale oil made by His Majesty's Government, whether it would have been possible to have purchased palm oil and coconut oil from West Africa, Malaya, and Ceylon instead of whale oil from Japan and Norway?
§ Captain Wallace:I have been asked to reply. The whale oil in question was purchased from United Kingdom sources and from Norway; no purchases were made from Japan. Whale oil is more suitable for storage than any alternative source of edible fat and was the only 1427W commodity of its kind which could be purchased without running the risk of an undue rise in price and of injury to normal users.