MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies is he aware that the reserve fund accumulated by the Crown Agents for the Colonies amounted on 31st March, 1899 to £33,307 2s. 5d.; can he state what the amount of this reserve fund was on 31st March, 1900; are payments amounting to some £3,000 a year made out of this fund in respect of life insurance policies for the advantage of the officials employed in the Crown Agents' offices; and if so, is any such payment made in respect of the Crown Agents themselves; and seeing that in 1870 Her Majesty's Government decided that the accounts of the Crown Agents should cease to be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General excepting in the case of colonies receiving grants in aid of their local revenues, can he state whether these accounts are still excluded from audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, and if not, what change in that respect has been made since 1870.
§ MR. J. CHAMBERLAINThe figures quoted by the hon. Member give not the amount of the reserve fund on 31st March, 1899, but the uninvested cash balance then standing to its credit. The 34 amount of the fund at 31st March, 1900, taking into account both the nominal value of the investment and the credit balance, was £341,527. Payments amounting to £3,179 were made out of this fund in 1899 on account of life insurance for the benefit of the officials in the Crown Agents' office—about thirty in number —including the Crown Agents. Of this amount £740 was paid by the individuals themselves. The accounts of of the Crown Agents always have been, and still are, audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. What was discontinued in 1870 was the audit in this country of the separate accounts as between the Crown Agents and certain colonies.