Dear Mr. Bruce,

This week I am afraid my letter must be somewhat shorter than
usual.

The Imperial Economic Committee are quite determined to finish up
the Fruit Report before Easter and this week we have sat morning,
afternoon and evening, and the Committee is going to sit most of
today.

The Main Report is practically completed and approved but it had
so many amendments inserted at the sittings on Tuesday and
Wednesday, that I cannot very well send you a preliminary copy
until next mail.

So far as the supplementary reports are concerned, the Banana
Report has been approved; yesterday the Dried Fruit Report was
approved, late last night (about 11.30) we completed the Apple
Report except for verbal revisions and, this morning, we are going
to tackle the Citrus Report. Most of these subsidiary reports have
been completed in rough form since just after Christmas but,
strange to say, the Chairman [1] has actually not read a number of
them. The members of the Committee are not unnaturally very
annoyed at this, because it involves such a tremendous amount of
unnecessary and additional work for us all at the last moment and
we all feel that it shows very clearly that the Chairman is
undertaking more work than he is able to attend to properly.

However, in spite of this, I think that the Fruit Report will be
quite a useful piece of work. It will, when printed completely,
form a volume of about 250 pages. The present intention is to
publish the whole and also to publish the Main Report without the
various subsidiary reports.

I am enclosing, for your information, a copy of the Banana Report,
which has only one or two quite subsidiary alterations at the end
to go in before it is published. By next mail I hope to send you a
copy of the Main Report and perhaps one or two of the other
subsidiaries although it is doubtful whether these will have been
duplicated afresh before Easter.

CABLES

As I learnt that New Zealand and the Irish Free State had
signified their willingness to accept H. M. Government's proposal
for an Executive Body and to agree to the inclusion of British
agriculture, I cabled you on the 23rd of March as follows:-

Reference Imperial Economic Committee I understand that Irish Free
State and New Zealand have approved H.M. Government's proposals.

Canadian reply still awaited.

TIMES TRADE SUPPLEMENT

I am enclosing you a copy of the second article on 'Empire
Economic Problems' published in the 'Times Trade Supplement'. [2]

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

I enclose Parliamentary questions and answers although I do not
think they are of any special interest.

'THE SECRET OF HIGH WAGES'

Two young Cambridge men, Messrs. Austin and Lloyd, both engineers
on the staff of Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., have published, within
the last few days, a book entitled 'The Secret of High Wages',
which has caused quite a sensation. [3] It has been reviewed by
the principal newspapers and by the weeklies in the most
favourable way. I have not yet had time to read it carefully but
have seen sufficient of it to feel sure that you will find the
book of very considerable interest and I am, therefore, enclosing
a copy herewith. I may add that I know Lloyd and am encouraging
him to follow up the success, which has undoubtedly attended this
book, by a study of the questions of Empire trade from the point
of view of the British manufacturer and publish something on the
subject between now and the Imperial Conference.

Yours sincerely,
F. L. MCDOUGALL