§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT (Sheffield, Ecclesall)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total present estimated value of the Suez Canal shares, purchased by Lord Beaconsfield in 1875 for £4,000,000; what amount of the £4,000,000 has been paid off by the Sinking Fund; when the shares thus purchased will be entitled to share the annual dividend; what the amount of the dividends paid by the Suez Canal Company has been for the past three years; and what proportion the British tonnage of ships passing through the Canal bears to the total tonnage?
§ SIR W. HARCOURTThe answer to the first question is £17,750,000; to the second question, £3,805,000; to the third question, the 1st of July, 1894; to the fourth question, for 1890, 17 per cent,; 1891, 21 per cent.; 1892, 18 per cent.; and the answer to the fifth question is 75 per cent.