§ MR JOHN ELLISTo ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will state the total sums which have been voted by Parliament by way of loan or free grant respectively since the year 1850 to the States now comprised in the Dominion of Canada; to those making up the Commonwealth of Australia; and 263 also to the two self-governing Colonies of South Africa for purposes of railways, or agricultural or mineral development.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton.) Assuming that the last nine words of the Question apply to the whole of the rest, it is believed that apart from certain Parliamentary grants for "British Columbia," "Vancouver Island," and "Northern Australia," all made previous to the year 1865; some portions of which may have been devoted to the objects specified by the hon. Member, the advance of £400,000 made to the Cape Government in 1885 for the completion of the Kimberley Railway under the authority of the Imperial Act (48 Vict., cap. 7), is the only sum voted by Parliament, either by way of loan or as a free grant, which comes directly within the terms of the Question.