§ SIR MANCHERJEE BHOWNAGGREE (Bethnal Green, N.E.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if he can state whether the various contributions and donations made from India to the Imperial Institute amount altogether to £150,000; whether of this total the sum of £41,309 was appropriated to the endowment fund, the balance having been expended in construction; and, if so, will he state what the income of the endowed sum of £41,309 is per year and in what way it is being spent for the benefit of India; and will he, in future, allocate that sum towards the annual contribution of £1,525 which is now required from the Government of India for the Institute.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralThe contributions from Indian sources to the Imperial Institute (including those paid into the general fund and 267 subsequent donations for specific purposes) amounted roughly to the sum named in the Question. The contributions to the general fund, amounting to £114,528. were devoted in common with those received from other sources to the erection of the building and the formation of an endowment fund, but I have no knowledge of any definite apportionment of the Indian contribution as between these two objects. The income from the endowment fund is devoted to the general objects of the Imperial Institute as laid down in its Charter, from which it is believed that India derives a substantial benefit. There is no income available for allocation as suggested in the last part of the Question.