asked the President of the Board of Trade if, in view of the shortage of newsprint, he will take active steps to produce paper from wheat straw, tons of which are burned annually by the farmers of this country.

It is the policy of His Majesty's Government to encourage the use of domestic raw materials for paper-making wherever economically practical, and we shall continue to give every assistance to individual paper or board mills wishing to instal ancillary straw plants. We are advised, however, that it would not be practicable to use straw pulp for the manufacture of newsprint, in view of the fast running machines now used both for newsprint production and newsprint printing. Nor is the production of newsprint in this country limited by shortage of raw materials.