§ Considered in Committee.
§ (In the Committee.)
§ Motion made, and Question proposed,
- 1. "That it is expedient to authorize the redemption of the Consolidated Three per Cent Annuities, and the Reduced Three per Cent Annuities, and the issue out of the Consolidated Fund of the necessary amounts to pay off the principal sums payable to holders of such Stocks.
- 2. That the sums required for such redemption he raised by the creation of Two and Three-quarters per Cent Consolidated Stock, or by borrowing for a limited period, the principal moneys so raised and the interest thereon being charged on the Consolidated Fund.
- 3. That all expenses incurred in carrying out such redemption of Stock, and for providing for the payment of dividends in certain cases, as well as additional remuneration to the Banks of England and Ireland, he charged on the Consolidated Fund.
- 4. That provision he made for carrying out the arrangements necessary for such redemption of Stock."
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERAt an earlier period of the evening I said that if these Resolutions were taken to-night it would bind no one, but simply enable me to bring in a Bill which should be printed and show the measure which I shall ask the House to pass. The Committee will be aware that the amount of Consols and Reduced left outstanding after the Conversion 490 of the National Debt had taken place amounted to about £41,250,000. Of that sum upwards of £5,000,000 are now held by Government Departments, and there is a further sum of £6,000,000 standing in the name of the Paymaster-General of the Supreme Court of Judicature, and between £1,000,000 and £2,000,000 investments in the Post Office Savings Banks. With regard to these a special arrangement will be proposed. This would leave about £29,000,000. There is in the hands of the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt and other resources which will be available before the 6th of July a sum of about £6,500,000. My plan is to pay off the whole on the 6th of July, with the one exception I have mentioned, in accordance with the notice given on the 6th of July last. The task is a heavy one, but I think it is by no means beyond the resources of the Government, and it will be more convenient both for holders of Consols and for succeeding Chancellors of the Exchequer that a determined effort should be made to pay off the whole on the 6th of July, rather than proceeding by various instalments. I shall ask the Committee to be good enough to give a very free hand to the Government, so that the Government may be able, according to the price of Consols or the facilities of the money market, to carry out this operation to the greatest benefit of the State. On former occasions it was impossible to define in advance the terms on which the money could be raised. As this is a liability which has been undertaken, it is clear that considerable latitude must be given to the Government in order to raise the funds which will be necessary for paying off the amount of Consols still outstanding. I should propose that powers should be given to raise Two-and-Three-Quarters per Cent. Stock, the same as that into which Consols generally have been converted, or to raise a portion of the amount by Treasury bills or by Exchequer bonds, or by whatever means may be most available in the market at the time. The Bill will speak for itself, and when the Second Reading is taken by the House I shall, of course, be prepared to make a fuller statement than at present; but the Bill will be in the hands of Members in about two days' time, and the House will then see the full particulars. 491 The few words I have addressed to the Committee, however, will show the general aspect of the case. I trust that, as the conversion of the 500 millions sterling has been carried out with success, and in terms not injurious to the State, though some people consider the terms were rather too hard on the holders of Consols, confidence will be shown me as the representative of the Government in carrying out the balance of this very large operation.
§ DR. TANNER (Cork, Mid)I wish to explain that I put down a notice of opposition to this Motion in the interest of certain trustees, and I thought the matter ought to be threshed out at the proper time—not at 25 minutes to one in the morning. It is not because of any remonstrance from Her Majesty's Government, but in consequence of a request which was addressed to me by a hon. Gentleman that I withdrew opposition on the present occasion.
§ *MR. H. FOWLER (Wolverhampton)As the proposal of the Government is one most conducive to the public convenience, I hope there will be no objection to taking the Resolution to-night.
§ *MR. MUNDELLA (Sheffield, Brightside)I suppose we are right in concluding that the right hon. Gentleman has control of the whole amount except £29,000,000?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERI have stated that there are in the hands of the Government £5,000,000, in the hands of the Receiver General of the Supreme Court of Judicature £6,000,000, and invested by trustees of savings banks £1,000,000 or £2,000,000. The Government have not such absolute control over these two latter sums as they have over money held by the Government Departments, and they will propose special arrangements in regard to them. The Government will be prepared to pay not only £29,000,000, but £35,000,000 if necessary, but we stand committed to pay off by the 6th of July every Consol holder who presents his Consols before then.
§ Resolutions agreed to.