to enable the Association to recoup losses which it had previously incurred in respect of certain purchases which it had made in the open market in Germany to supplement the quantity of dyes available under the Treaty, and the question was not referred by the Board of Trade to the Treasury. The Board of Trade have justified their action on the ground that the object of obtaining dyes from Germany was not a matter simply of Reparations but was a trade deal for the benefit of traders here. The Treasury, Q.380. however, did not accept this view and represented that while the arrangement was certainly an arrangement under the Treaty for the benefit of a particular trade, the Board of Trade were not entitled to dispose of these dyes to the trade on preferential terms and so benefit the trade at the cost of the general taxpayer.

The Committee are not in a position to express any opinion as to what was the intention underlying this provision of the Treaty, but they agree with the view of the Treasury, that no Q.383. Department is at liberty to dispose of commodities which it holds for the public at a price which is not the best that can be obtained from the general public without at any rate the previous authority of the Treasury.

62. Imported Timber.-The Balance Sheet on this Account at 31st March, 1920, showed profit of £2,103,289. On 30th September, 1920, the stocks remaining in the United Kingdom and lying abroad, with the exception of certain timber in Russia, were sold for the round sum of £5,000,000 to a new company, formed by certain timber merchants, with a paid-up capital of £500,000. Owing to the serious fall in prices in the timber trade which Q.196. subsequently set in, the company (who, in the original agreement, were not required to take possession of the whole of the timber or to pay for it until 1922) were unable to carry out their contract. Q.219. There was no means of getting possession of the timber again without forcing the company into liquidation. In these circumstances it was first arranged that the company should sell on commission on behalf of the Government. Later on, this arrangement was superseded by an agreement, which was rather more favourable to the Government, that the company should purchase the balance remaining of the original block of timber Q.219. at reduced rates. The result was that the Government received the sum of £3,400,000 for the timber in question, in lieu of the original contract price of £5,000,000, and mainly for this reason the profit of £2,103,289 at 31st March, 1920, which had fallen to £1,562,042 at 31st March, 1921, had practically disappeared by 31st March, 1922.

Your Committee have carefully examined these transactions. They are satisfied that the modifications in the arrangements made with the company were fully considered by the Treasury, and they feel that the loss in question must be ascribed to the dislocated conditions which arose out of the War.

An Excess Vote for the Bankruptcy Department, Board of Trade, was considered.

Sir MALCOLM RAMSAY, K.C.B., and Mr. H. MEAD TAYLOR, C.B., were examined.

Draft First Report, proposed by the Chairman, brought up, read the first and second times, and agreed to.

Ordered, To Report.

The Trading Accounts, 1920-1921, of the Ministry of Food and the Trading Accounts, 1921-1922, of the Food Department of the Board of Trade, and of the Board of Trade, were considered.

Sir MALCOLM RAMSAY, K.O.B., Mr. H. E. FASS, O.B.E., Mr. F. H. BLORE, Mr. H. MEAD TAYLOR, C.B., and Mr. F. H. COLLER were examined.

[Adjourned till Tuesday next.

The Trading Accounts, 1921-1922, of the Board of Trade were further considered.

The Trading Accounts, 1921-1922, of the Royal Commission on Wheat Supplies, the Royal Commission on the Sugar Supply and the Stationery Office were considered.

Sir MALCOLM RAMSAY, K.C.B., Mr. H. E. FASS, O.B.E., Mr. A. E. WATSON, C.B.E., Mr. H. MEAD TAYLOR, C.B., and Mr. W. R. CODLING, C.V.O., C.B.E.. were examined.

[Adjourned till Thursday next.

The Trading Accounts, 1921-1922, of the Stationery Office were further considered.

The Trading Accounts, 1921-1922, of the Shipping Liquidation Department of the Board of Trade were considered.

Sir MALCOLM RAMSAY, K.C.B., Mr. H. E. FASS, O.B.E., Mr. A. E. WATSON, C.B.E., Mr. W. R. CODLING, C.V.O., C.B.E., and Mr. S. H. G. HUGHES, C.B.E., were examined.

[Adjourned till Tuesday next.

In the unavoidable absence of Colonel Guinness, Sir Henry Craik was called to the Chair.

The Trading Accounts, 1921-1922, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries were considered.

Sir MALCOLM RAMSAY, K. C.B., Mr. H. E. FASS, O.B.E., Mr. A. E. WATSON, C.B.E., and Sir FRANCIS FLOUD, K.C.B, were examined.

[Adjourned till Thursday next.

Thursday, 13th March, 1924.

MEMBERS PRESENT:

The Civil Services Appropriation Accounts, 1922-1923, were considered. The Trading Accounts, 1921-1922, of the Office of Works and Buildings were considered.

The Housing Act, 1914, Account, 1922-1923, was considered.

Sir MALCOLM RAMSAY, K.C.B., Mr. M. F. HEADLAM, C.B., Mr. H. E. FASS, O.B.E., Mr. A. E. WATSON, C.B.E., Sir LIONEL EARLE, K.C.B., K.O.V.O., C.M.G., Mr. J. A. W. BUCHANAN, O.B.E., and Sir H. FRANK HEATH, K.C.B., were examined.

The Civil Services Appropriation Accounts, 1921-1923, were further

considered.

The Trading Accounts, 1921-1922, of the Department of Overseas Trade, were considered.

Sir MALCOLM RAMSAY, K. C.B., Mr. H. E. FASS, O.B.E., Mr. A. E. WATSON, C.B.E., Mr. H. A. FERGUSON-DAVIE, Sir WILLIAM CLARK, K.C.S.I., C.M.G., Sir MALCOLM Delevingne, k.C.B., Mr. J. F. MOYLAN, C.B., C.B.E., and Mr. E. A. GOWERS, C.B., were examined.

The Civil Services Appropriation Accounts, 1922-1923, were further considered.

The Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues Abstract Accounts, 1922-1923, were considered,

Sir MALCOLM RAMSAY, K. C.B., Mr. H. E. FASS, O.B.E., Mr. A. E. WATSON, C.B.E., Sir GEORGE GRANVILLE LEVESON GOWER, K.B.E., Mr. A. S. GAYE, and Sir FREDERICK BUTLER, K.C.M.G., C.B., were examined.

The Civil Services Appropriation Accounts, 1922-1923, were further considered.

The Trading Accounts, 1921-1922, of the Board of Education and of the State Management Districts were considered.

Sir MALCOLM RAMSAY, K.C.B., Mr. H. E. FASS, O.B.E., Mr. A. E. WATSON, C.B.E., Mr. O. R. A. SIMPKIN, C.B., C.B.E., Sir CLAUD SCHUSTER, K.C.B., C.V.O., K.C., Mr. W. R. CODLING, C. V.O., C.B.E., Sir HUGH W. ORANGE, C.B., C.B.E., Sir J. C. G. SYKES, K.C.B., and Colonel R. A. JOHNSON, C.B., C.B.E., were examined.

[Adjourned till Thursday next.