Great Britain

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 30, 10 May 1916, Page 7

Great Britain

THE SUCftiR CONFERENCE. MR HUGHES' SPEECH. (United Phesi* A-coo^ixion.t London, May 8. Mr thighes, continuing; his speech at th(> Sugar Conference, said that Lritain in 1913 imported twelve hundred thousand ions of sugar. If permitted, Germauy would dump FV.gar into Britain after the war, and then 'ill prospects of trade freedom in a self-eon-tained Empire would be gone. Already contract,-; had been unsuccessfully submitted to England, providing for delivery at Hamburg, Bremen, Danzig, and Stettin. Prohibitive tariffs would be of no avail, because German producers were prepared to olFer the utmost inducements in order to dispose of accumulated stocks.

The only sure remedy was to arrange a scries of contracts between Britain, on behalf of the manufacturers and consumers, and the sugar-producing dominions, guaranteeing to purchase certain quantities at a minimum price. Mr Hughes drew attention to the fact that tli.- British Sugar Commission employs a purchasing agent who has a German name. It was surely possible to find a man of their own race. There were naturalised Germans who had a better right to stand against a wall than Sinn Fein lead-

Lord Denbigh said that the prospects or the beet sugar industry in Britain were brighter. People must be prepared to deal with the sugar question which .ought to be regarded as an insurance against menace in the future. YOUTHFUL 3EGRUITS. London, May 8. Colonel Rcpington says that tl.ce is a difference of opinion as to whon a youth is lit. for service. In Germany at 18 they are not compelled to fight before they are twenty years of age. German youths are serving as volunteers, and though we have examined many prisoners we have seen none under twenty. Our 1897 class should be regarded as a recruiting reserve, and not drawn upon until the last moment, unless the military situation demands it.