§ DR. MACNAMARA (Camberwell, N.)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Comptroller of the National Debt has prepared a balance-sheet of the Post Office Savings Bank on the 31st December, 1904, in order that the National Debt Commissioners may be kept acquainted with the financial position of the bank; if so, on what basis was the valuation of securities made; and is there any objection to laying the balance-sheet upon the Table of the House.
(Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain.) The calculations which are necessary to determine the amount of the liability to depositors on the 31st December last have not yet been completed. When the liabilities have been ascertained, a statement will be prepared for presentation to Parliament, showing on the one side the liabilities, and on the other side the nature and amount of the securities held, as directed by Section 9 of The Savings Banks Act, 1904.