I am very grateful for the opportunity afforded to me by both my hon. Friends to say something about this extremely difficult and vexed question of timber supplies. If I fail to go into very great detail on a number of the points that have been raised, it is only because of the limitations of time. The facts of the timber situation as set out by my hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe (Mr. John E. Haire) are, as far as I can see, accurate. It is the case that there has been a shrinkage in world exports. In 1928–29, world exports of timber were nearly 6 million standards. By 1934–38 this had become 4½ million standards. All these figures exclude Germany for purposes of comparison, since one could not compare prewar years with 1946 if one included Germany. Last year the total world exports had diminished to 2 million standards. Prior to the war, this country took about 2¼million standards, but in 1946, the total imported into this country was under one million standards. 'In other words, the total world supply has shrunk, and with it, of course, our share.

My hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe mentioned that in a recent tour in foreign parts, he had seen plenty of timber, but I would remind him that there is a difference between growing trees and sawn timber, and he has to take into account, particularly in those countries to which he was referring, difficulties arising out of the war. Roads, railways, power stations, vehicles, production equipment of all kinds, neglected or destroyed or damaged during the war, have to be repaired or renewed, and renewal of these in many of the great timber-producing countries has made only slight progress. Our own heavy industries, of course, could make a contribution, and so could coal, if we had sufficient coal to export to the countries which need it. Many of the most important sources of supply are still dislocated, and have their own very serious reconstruction problems. A particular example of that is the Soviet Union, one of our greatest suppliers in the years before the war. May I say here to my hon. Friend the Member for West Coventry (Mr. Edelman) that we need no urging to buy timber from the Soviet Union, but it does take two to make a bargain. My right hon. and learned Friend the President of the Board of Trade has made it plain in the House many times that we are only too anxious to deal with the Soviet Union in a number of things, and particularly in timber. My hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe asked, quite legitimately, what we are doing. He made some criticisms of the Timber Control, one of which was that the Timber Control consists of timber merchants. I cannot imagine anybody more suited and fitted to go abroad and buy timber than people who have spent the whole of their lives buying timber, and I certainly would not be prepared to suggest that this job should be handed over to amateurs who might have the advice, which they might or might not take, of a panel of professional people. The hon. Member criticised the fact that there was no representation of the consumers on the Timber Control. He may or may not know that I have recently received several deputations, and on several occasions I have suggested to these people that if they would provide us with somebody who would be prepared to come into the Timber Control on the same terms as those who are already there—to come into the Timber Control and give us the full time use of their services—we should be only too glad to see them, but, unfortunately, none has yet been forthcoming.

What, in fact, are we doing? The hon. Member referred to the fact that we have a mission in Canada at the present time. That mission is headed by the Timber Controller, and, as he is reported to have said, his terms of reference are to buy all the timber he can get, and those are his only terms of reference. One cannot go further than that. Sweden and Finland were important prewar suppliers, and we are negotiating with them at the present time, but it is the case that unless Sweden can get coal, we cannot have Swedish timber. We are unable to give Sweden coal, and, therefore, Sweden is using the timber which is being produced for fuel. In Finland, I am advised that there is a necessity for iron and steel, without which the timber will not come out of Finland.