§ MR. SMOLLETTsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for India, Whether, with reference to the statement made 1073 by the then Under Secretary, on the 15th May, 1866, that a sum of £600,000 was about to be lent to the Madras Irrigation Company on debentures, he is prepared to state what sums have been so advanced; upon what terms the advance is made; what is the state of account with that Company at the present date; and whether any net revenue has accrued from the work; and whether the chairman and directors of that Company are paid for their labours; and, if so, by whom?
§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEsaid, the arrangement referred to was that the Government should advance a sum of £600,000 to the Madras Irrigation Company, for the purpose of enabling them to execute certain specified works, the money to be issued on debentures bearing 5 per cent interest, which was to be a first charge upon the profits of the Company. And there was this stipulation, that if within five years, from the 1st July, 1866, the work was not completed to the satisfaction of the local Government, the whole of the works should be made over to the Secretary of State, in exchange for an amount of Five per cent India Government Stock, equivalent at the price of the day to the actual amount expended. The amount which had been advanced as loan was £118,000, and the works were proceeding in accordance with the arrangement made. The Company were guaranteed by the Government to the extent that the Government made up the amount of interest on the capital of the Company to 5 per cent per annum. The amount of the capital of the Company—£1,000,000—was now all paid up, with the exception of some £100 or £200, and the amount paid by the Government between 1859, when the arrangement was made, to the present time was £311,918, as guaranteed interest, and in the last year the amount paid was £49,846 15s. 3d., or about 5 per cent upon the amount of the capital called up. It was clear from this statement that the Company had not made any net revenue at present. The directors had hitherto been remunerated out of the capital called up, but now they were paid out of the advances obtained on loan.