§ Colonel BRIDGEMAN (Bolton)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the amount of the sum derived from the revenues of Cyprus which is applied to the payment of interest on the Turkish Loan of 1855, guaranteed by England and France, and for which Turkey is in default; and, if he can inform the House how the surplus of the so-called Turkish Tribute has been applied, year by year, up to the present time?
§ MR. GOSCHENOut of the Turkish Tribute annually payable by Cyprus, about £82,000 is stopped on its way to the Porte in order to make good the interest on the Turkish Guaranteed Loan of 1855, which is charged on the whole revenues of the Ottoman Empire. The difference between that sum and the total amount payable by Cyprus has been partly applied in payment of the Synge and Sutar ransoms, and the balance due to Turkey, amounting up to date to about £55,000, has been retained by Her Majesty's Government for the purpose of building up a sinking fund in respect of which the Turkish Government is in default. The Turkish Government are in default as to the sinking fund of the loan of 1855 A3 well as to the interest.
§ MR. LEIGHTON (Shropshire, Oswestry)Can the right hon. Gentleman say when the Tribute was first applied to the payment of interest on the loan.
§ MR. GOSCHENI think it was in the year 1882.