§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction in university and scientific circles because the paper control exercises a censorship of publications through the allocation of the paper pool being exercised by a small committee whose activities are conducted without any opportunity of public criticism; and if he will widen the membership of this committee and state the principles upon which they are instructed to proceed.
§ Mr. DaltonNo, Sir; but I am aware of the dissatisfaction in the universities and schools about the shortage of educational books. The small reserve of paper, to which my hon. Friend refers, is set aside with the very object of relieving the shortage of these and other essential books. The Committee which advises me on the distribution of this reserve consists of an independent Chairman, Sir Walter Moberly, and four representative publishers, and it works on the broad principle of helping publishers to produce books of special importance, particularly educational books and reprints of the Classics, for which they cannot find paper from their normal quotas. I am56W glad to say that I have recently been able to arrange for an increase in the paper allocated to the reserve and this should help further to relieve the shortage of educational books. I do not propose to make any alteration in these arrangements at the present time.