London, May 11.
In the House of Commons to-day. replying to Commander Bellairs (Conservative), with reference to artificial silk Lt.-Col. Walter Guinness, Fin Secretary the Treasury, said that mercerized jeotton and cotton fibre, unless con-[verted into artifeial silk, would not taxed.
Mr, Winston Churchill, Chancel-for of the Exchequer, announced that the present scale of silk duties was not in all details absolute and fin Immediately the Budget resolute he would begin the real ud The Government merely ask-fed the House to assent to the principle of the silk tax, after which fall the parties, including the Gov-Jernment, would be free to revise the present scale, Mr, Churchill said that it was impossible to tax real silk and leave artificial silk free. This would feripple and destroy the natural sill: industry. Both must be treated equally. This would be attempted the proposed scale, which, how-Jover, was subject to revision, The speaker announced that, with regard to made-up importations, there would be a reasonable personal allowance for travellers, in Jorder that no appreciable inconvenience would be suffered by the travelling public.
'A provisional agreement with the trade had been reached regarding made-up importations containing only a proportion of silk, on a bas's lof lower duty when the sill content did not exceed 20 per cent. There possibly would be a still lower duty for articles containing only the ismallest proportion of silk. The factual reduced rate had not yet been fixed.
Mr. Churchill said in conclusion that the silk taxes were an essential part of the Government's policy of Broadening the basis of taxation, He did mot see why a tax on a raw material like silk should be considered monstrous when all Govern ments for years past had taxed sugar, Sir Alfred Mond (Liberal), opposing the duties, said that when he was recently in the East he was filled with alarm on going bazaars in Syria and. else see British textile goods rapi ing replaced by goods from Japa [Ceecho-Slovakia and Italy.
Labour amendments postponing operation of the silk duties from July 1 to December 1 and omitting the Customs duty on artificial Booth were rejected.
The report stage of the Budger resolutions, authorizing the Cus and Excise duties on silk, then 166, thus completing the report stage of all Budget resolutions, after which the Finance Bill founded upon them was introduced by Mr. Churchill and its first reading p
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.