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43
The late Lord Stanley HOUSE OF COMMONS
[The Prime Minister.]
As the House will be aware from the statement which I have just made, we shall debate the Motion in regard to the Anglo-Italian Agreement to-morrow.
Thursday will be available for the dis- cussion of the Motion which I am in-
formed the Opposition are tabling with regard to Air-Raid Defence.
On Friday there will be a formal sitting for the purpose of Prorogation.
The new Session will be opened by His Majesty on Tuesday, 8th November,
Mr. Dingle Foot: Will the House have an opportunity in the near future of debating the report of the Select Com- mittee on the Official Secrets Acts?
The Prime Minister: Not this Session.
Colonel Wedgwood: Are we to under- stand from the right hon. Gentleman's statement that we are to have only one day in which to discuss this Anglo-Italian Agreement and the surrender of Spain?
NEW MEMBER SWORN. Quintin McGarel Hogg, esquire, com- monly called the honourable Quintin McGarel Hogg, for the City of Oxford.
THE LATE LORD STANLEY.
The Prime Minister: Since the House
adjourned last July the hand of death has been busy among us, and to-day we mourn a number of familiar faces that we
know we shall not see in this Chamber again. Among others who have gone from us is one whose loss strikes Members
a
of His Majesty's Government with peculiar poignancy because he was colleague. Lord Stanley had been a Mem- ber of the Cabinet for only a few months, but he was an old friend of many of us and he had won the affection and regard of every one of us. I think everyone here will be deeply conscious of the tragedy of his untimely death. He was the heir of a great house which has a long and illustrious record of public service. He had for many years been a Member of this House, and although he was a Mem- ber of the National Government and of the Conservative party he had no enemies
here.
Everybody, I think, was watching with sympathy his entry upon a high office
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45
The late Lord Stanley
which, I have reason to believe, formed the summit of his own political ambition. So great, indeed, was his keenness and his interest in Imperial relations that he in- sisted on carrying out his intention to visit Canada, although even then he was suffer- ing from the disease which has now ended fatally. Perhaps in that office he would have, for the first time, found an oppor- tunity of showing the full extent of his powers, for those who knew him best had long recognised that he possessed to an ex- ceptional degree the high qualities of steady judgment and sterling good sense, combined with a complete and utter self- lessness and integrity of purpose.
I am sure that hon. Members in all parts of the House will share the sorrow which is felt on this Bench, and that they would desire to offer their deep sympathy to his widow, to his whole family and, perhaps, particularly, to his father, who holds a special place in the affections of his coun- trymen and who was happy in the know- ledge that both his sons were giving their services to their country and the Empire.
Mr. Attlee: I desire to express, on behalf of the Members of the Opposition and of myself, our sorrow at the untimely death of Lord Stanley and our sincere sympathy with all the members of his family. Few of us had thought when we heard that he was taken ill in Canada, that his life was in danger, and it was a great shock to learn of his death. Lord Stanley was deservedly popular in this House, and in all parts of the House, and to the varied offices of State which he
filled with great distinction, he brought character, courtesy, diligence, and ability. It is sad that so soon after attaining a position where he would have had full scope for these qualities, he has been taken away. To myself, as to many others on this side, he was a political opponent but a personal friend, and we shall long remember him and regret the loss that we have sustained by his death.
Sir Archibald Sinclair: I rise to asso- ciate my hon. Friends and myself both with the moving tributes which have been paid by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to the memory of Lord Stanley, whose untimely loss we all so deeply mourn, and also with the condol- ences which we offer with deep sincerity to his family. Loyal to his friends, cour- teous to his opponents, untiring in the service of the State, he brought to his
Written Answers
1 NOVEMBER 1938
work high qualities of mind and unusual He also capacity for administration. brought a strong, true, virile but gentle nature, which remains with us a fragrant and precious memory abiding in this House which he so faithfully served.
WRITTEN
ANSWERS.
TRADE AND COMMERCE. TRADE AGREEMENTS (STATISTICS). Mr. Lyons asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give the
Country from and to which consigned.
Germany Denmark
Iceland Norway Sweden
Argentine
Finland ... Soviet Union France
Date(s) on which Trade Agreement(s) came into force.
Written Answers
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46
respective balances of trade between this country and all countries with which trade treaties have been negotiated for the year 1938 to the latest convenient date, show- ing the date at which each agreement came into force?
Mr. Stanley: The following table shows the total declared value of merchandise imported into and exported from the United Kingdom during the nine months ended September, 1938, in trade with the undermentioned foreign countries, together with the balance of imports or exports.
Imports into the United Kingdom.
Total exports from the United
Excess of Exports of merchandise (+) or Imports of merchandise (—).
Kingdom.
£'000
£,000
£'000
8th May, 1933 20th June, 1933 20th June, 1936 28th June, 1933
22,688
19,848
(-)
}
28,747
11,905
2,840 (-) 16,842
287
378
91
7th July, 1933
8,210
5,472
2,738
7th July, 1933
17,658
9,389
8,269
1st May, 1933
8th November, 1933
28,362
Republic.
14,769
13,593
23rd November, 1933
20th November, 1936,
23rd November, 1933-
13,674
4,329
9,345
21st March, 1934
13,674
12,858
816
1st July, 1934
16,887
17,861
974
1st August, 1934
22,452
10,721
II, 731
12th August, 1934
2,456
1,690
766
8th September, 1934
1,554
869
685
12th October, 1934
3,336
1,273
2,063
Poland
14th March, 1935
7,498
5,642
1,856
20th June, 1935
Turkey
17th September, 1936
654
2,109
(+) I,455
1st July, 1938
Uruguay
3rd February, 1936
3,101
1,745
9th October, 1936 (a)
2,329
774
1,356 1,555
18th March, 1935
27th April, 1935
16th November, 1936
4,996
4,630
(--)
366
28th March, 1938
Yugoslavia Cuba
1st January, 1937
I,955
1,116
839
10th September, 1938 ..
3,857
Morocco
(b)
54I
720 252
3.137
289
Netherlands Lithuania Estonia
Latvia
Peru
Italy
(2) Date of provisional entry into force of tariff provisions.
II II I 00700000 ‡ II I III
(b) A Commercial Treaty with regard to French Morocco, incorporating tariff schedules, was signed on 18th July, 1938, but pending ratification, has not yet come into force.
Notes
(1) The above figures are provisional.
(2) The above list does not include agreements relating solely to payments.
GREAT BRITAIN AND UNITED STATES (TRADE AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS). Sir G. Mitcheson asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any statement to make in regard to the negotiations for a commercial treaty between this country and the United States of America?
Mr. White asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he has any state- ment to make with regard to the progress of the negotiations with the United States of America for a trade agreement?
Mr. Stanley: Since the summer, when agreement was reached over a large part of the field, the negotiations have been