§ MR. A. H. A. MORTON (Deptford)On behalf of the hon. Member for Elgin and Nairn, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the methods of calculating the rates of interest (which were settled by the Bank of England), regarding the termination in 1884 and and 1886 of the Eastern Bengal and Scinde Railway contracts, have never been checked or investigated by the India Office; and, if no knowledge of this financial transaction is on record at the India Office, whether he will now seek to secure this information for official purposes, and also for publication.
§ LORD G. HAMILTONIn the cases to which the question refers the contracts prescribed that the rate of interest should be determined by the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. As I stated on Monday last,* I have no knowledge of the manner in which they calculated the rate, and it would have been most improper for the Secretary of State for India to interfere. I do not propose to take any such steps as are suggested in the latter part of the question.