Oral Answers to Questions — Germany – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 24 November 1947.
Mr Nigel Birch
, Flintshire
12:00,
24 November 1947
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what arrangements are being made to transport the contents of German factories allotted as-reparations.
Mr Christopher Mayhew
, Norfolk Southern
No detailed programme for the movement of this traffic is yet available.
Mr Nigel Birch
, Flintshire
Will the Minister bear in mind the great strain under which German transport is suffering, due to inland water transport being impeded by the drought, and will he see that the factories are not moved if it means holding up the production of coal and holding up any measures that might get the German economy going again?
Mr Christopher Mayhew
, Norfolk Southern
Yes, we admit there is a big problem here, but we are planning to make a detailed and careful programme so as to avoid interference with priority traffic.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
