Transition Period
(a) The prohibition of the importation of goods from enemy origin should be continued, subject to license in exceptional cases, for at least twelve months after the conclusion of the war, and subsequently for such further period as may be deemed expedient.
(b) The Paris resolutions relating to the supply of the Allies for the restoration of their industries can be carried into effect if a policy of joint control of certain important commodities can be agreed upon between the British Empire and the Allies. Any measures should aim at securing to the British Empire and the allied countries priority for their requirements, and should be applied only to materials which are mainly derived from those countries and will be required by them. This policy should be applied as regards the United Kingdom by legislation empowering the Government to prohibit the export, except under license, of such articles as may be deemed expedient, and, as regards the British Empire and the allied countries, the Government should, without delay, enter into negotiations with the various Governments concerned, with a view to the adoption of suitable joint measures in the case of selected commodities of importance.
The Government should consider, in consultation with the Allies, the expediency of establishing after the war a joint organization on the lines of Commission Internationale de Ravitaillement for dealing with the orders of the allied Governments for reconstruction purposes, and with such private orders as they may find it expedient to centralize.
It is pointed out that the prolongation of the war and the entry into it of the United States have increased the importance of a considered policy directed toward assuring to the British Empire and the Allies adequate supplies of essential raw materials during the period immediately following the conclusion of peace, and that the extent to which the Paris resolutions which bear upon this vital question can be carried into effect depends upon the co-operation of the Governments concerned.
PROBLEM OF RAW MATERIALS
The committee reports that it will be necessary to continue for a considerable period after the war some portion of the control of home and foreign trade in order to secure adequate supplies of foodstuffs and raw material. It does not regard it as practical to attempt to make the empire self-supporting in respect of numerous raw materials. It notes that the Board of Trade already has set up a committee to investigate the question of the supply of cotton and it recommends special inquiries as regards each commodity. "The object to be kept in view should be that the empire may be capable in an emergency of being independent in respect of the supply of every essential commodity of any single foreign country."
The committee advises against the exclusion of foreign (other than present enemy) capital from sharing in the development of the empire's resources, but recommends:
(a) Complete disclosure, as far as is practicable, of the extent of foreign holdings in any particular case.
(b) That mineral and other properties are not secured by foreign concerns in order to prevent the development of those properties, and to check competition in supply; and
(c) That in the case of commodities of great imperial importance, the local Government concerned should have some measure of control over the working of the properties.
These principles, if accepted, should be brought to the notice of the Governments of other parts of the empire, with a view to the adoption of a uniform policy.
ALIENS IN BUSINESS
The committee expresses the opinion that it would not be desirable to impose special restrictions against the participation of aliens in commercial and industrial occupations. It recommends, however, that such occupations as pilot and patent agent should be confined to British-born subjects, and suggests that foreign commercial travelers operating in the United Kingdom should be registered and hold licenses, that the registration of title to property should be compulsory, and that such registration should involve a declaration of the nationality of the owner.
The committee deems it unwise to restrain the establishment or the continuance of agencies or branches of foreign banks or insurance companies in the United Kingdom, but foreign insurance companies should be required to make a deposit proportionate to the business done. Foreign banks should be required to pay the income tax.
The committee considers it necessary to impose special restrictions on the subjects of enemy countries, and that this can best be done by means of stringent permit and police regulations, but it does not believe that attempts should be made to prevent enemy subjects from establishing agencies or holding interests in commercial or industrial undertakings.