MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer—(1) whether he can state 854 the amount of the cash balance at present in the Treasury Chest; (2) whether it is in accordance with the Treasury Chest Regulations to make, out of that chest, advances to the Indian Government for the ordinary or extraordinary expenses of Indian troops, or for the direct payment of such expenses; (3) whether he proposes to submit to this House a Vote to provide the money for repayment to the Treasury Chest of any sums he may expend out of that chest for the expedition to Suakin of Indian troops; and (4), whether there is any precedent for paying the expense of a military expedition out of the Treasury Chest without such expedition having previously been sanctioned by Parliament?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERThe exact cash balance in the Treasury Chest Fund at any particular moment cannot be stated, as it depends on the balances in the hands of several accounting officers in the various parts of the world. The answer to the second paragraph of the question is "Yes." The Act of 1877 authorises the Treasury to employ the fund in making temporary advances for any public service, to be repaid out of moneys appropriated by Parliament to such service, or "out of any other moneys applicable thereto." Any advance out of the chest on account of the expedition at Suakin must therefore be repaid either by a Vote of this House or by the Egyptian Government. The answer to the, last paragraph of the question is "Yes."