§ MR. W. JOHNSTONsaid, he would beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, If he can assign any reason for the reduction of the rate of interest on the loan granted by the Public Works Commissioners for the new Dublin Waterworks from 5 to 4 percent in 1864; and on what grounds he refused the same reduction to the Belfast Water Commissioners on their loan of £130,000?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, in reply, said, that he could not state the reason for the reduction of the interest payable for the Dublin Waterworks from 5 to 4 per cent, but in reference to the Minute he saw that it was done under special circumstances. He presumed, therefore, it was not intended to be drawn into a precedent. Why he was not willing to reduce the interest in the case of Belfast was that, when persons entered into contracts with the Government by which they obtained loans on advantageous terms, the burden of proof lay upon those who sought to vary them. Belfast had made out no 126 case for reduction; it had obtained money and was able to pay; therefore it ought to pay.