MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of his statement that the total charge for banking transactions for the supply of funds and movement of specie up country amounted, up to the end of November, 1901, to £87,000, and that the bulk thereof was presumably paid to 640 the Standard Bank of South Africa, he has had his attention called to the statements of the Comptroller and Auditor General in reference to these transactions; whether, in particular, he has seen the statement of the Comptroller and Auditor General on pages 54 and 222 of the Army Appropriation Accounts to the effect that the total net loss on the transactions of the Treasury Chest Fund for the year 1900–1901 amounted to £303,813 9s. 1d., and the proportion thereof for the provision of funds for Army service to £261,839 3s. 9d.; Whether any, and if so what, portion of this sum of £261,839 3s. 9d. is to be added to the £87,000 already mentioned as the total charge for banking transactions in South Africa during the year 1900–1901; what portion thereof was paid during that year to the Standard Bank of South Africa in addition to the £87,000; and what is the total sum actually paid to that bank in respect of these services up to the end of November 1901.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Sir M. HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.I did not say that the sum of £87,000 represented the total charge for banking transactions for the supply of funds and movement of specie up country in South Africa from the outbreak of the war to the end of November, 1901, but that it represented transactions involving the movement of specie up country, and the consequent heavy insurances in time of war. During the same period, money was being provided for the Treasury Chests at Capetown and Pietermaritzburg by the Standard Bank of South Africa at the expense of the Treasury Chest Fund. The Bank's remuneration and its expenses in connection with this service were, as I also staled, covered by the discount allowed on the purchase of Treasury Chest bills, the rate of discount being at first 1 per cent., reduced subsequently to ¾ per cent. The total discount received by the Standard Bank up to the 30th November 1901 amounted to £395,750 in respect of bills amounting in the aggregate to £47,400,000. The sum of £261,839 3s. 9d. is the proportion of the total cost of Treasury Chest transactions in the year 1900–1901 which is estimated to have been 641 caused by transactions on Army Account. It is made up of £213,500, the cost of raising money for Army services in South Africa, and £48,339 3s. 9d. incurred for Army services in China and at other stations. The total payments to the Standard Bank consisted of the discount, £395,750 paid from the Treasury Chest Fund, besides the greater portion of the £87,000 paid from Army Votes.
§ MR. FLYNN (Cork Co., N.)Is it not a fact that Sir C. W. Fremantle, a near relative of the Secretary of State for War, and Lord Welby, a near relative of the Under Secretary, are directors of the Standard Bank?
§ SIR M. HICKS BEACHThat is, I think, a grossly unfounded insinuation. Neither of these Gentlemen has anything to do with His Majesty's Government, and Lord Welby is well known as a strong political opponent.