MR. BOYD-KINNEAR (Fife, E.)asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Under what account the revenues appear which are drawn by the Crown from the Island of Guernsey in respect of taxes on conveyances, tithes, seigneurial dues, and other sources; and, whether, if these do not appear in any account, he will lay a Return upon the Table of the House showing the amounts received under each head, the cost of collection, and the manner in which the sums are disposed of?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. HENRY H. FOWLER) (Wolverhampton, E.)The Crown Revenues of the Channel Islands do not form part of the Revenues of the United Kingdom, and the Parliament of the United Kingdom has no jurisdiction over them. They consist of rents of lands and certain feudal dues payable from time immemorial to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom in respect of the Duchy of Normandy. Certain expenses of civil government in each are paid out of the Crown Revenues of the Islands, and the surpluses, very modest ones, are brought to account as part of the small branches of Hereditary Revenue. The Sovereign has surrendered the Hereditary Revenues in return for the Civil List. These surpluses in consequence are paid over to the Exchequer, and form part of the Revenue of the United Kingdom for the year. They form the only set-off against all the charges for Army, Navy, Militia, and other Imperial expenses which are defrayed from the taxes of the United Kingdom. I do not like adding to the number of Returns which we are called on to print, and I should not propose to lay upon the Table a Return of Revenues over which the House of Commons has no control unless special reasons can be shown for doing so.