§ MR. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, S.W.)asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether he is aware that the aggregate of the capitals of Companies registered between January 2 and April 17 of the present year amounts to £99,403,657; whether his attention has been drawn to an article in The Statist newspaper, in which it is declared that "the public are being fleeced right and left;" and, when the Government intend to introduce the Bill promised in the Gracious Speech from the Throne "for remedying abuses in the formation of companies under limited liability?"
§ THE FIRST LORD (Mr. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster)The nominal capital of Companies registered between the 1st of January and the 17th of April, 1888, reaches a figure of £100,206,857, while during the same period of last year the figure was £40,525,266 only. The difference is believed to be caused by the desire to escape payment of the Stamp Duty of 2s. per cent on the nominal capital of Companies which will be exigible as soon as the Customs and Inland Revenue Bill becomes law. I am aware that The Statist has for some time been calling attention to the working, &c., of a certain class of Company; but I have no information as to whether the deductions drawn by The Statist are correct. With regard to the introduction of the Limited Liability Bill into the House of Lords, I am unable to add anything to the answer I gave on the 17th instant—namely, that it would be introduced as soon as possible.