§ MR. BRIGHTTo ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total amount outstanding for the purchase of Irish land under the various Irish Land Acts; what are the loans raised to pay for this land purchase and the rates of interest upon the loans; why these loans do not appear in the annual Finance Accounts as part of the National Debt under the denomination of Other Capital Liabilities; whether there are any other liabilities which do not appear in the Finance Accounts; and whether he will in future include the Irish land loans in the annual Finance Accounts.
934 (Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain.) Before 1891 loans for land purchase in Ireland were made out of the Local Loans Fund by the Board of Works under the Act of 1870, by the Land Commission under subsequent Acts. The outstanding balances of such loans on 31st March, 1905, were:—
The liability in respect of the money raised for the purposes of these loans is represented by a corresponding amount of Local Loans Stock. That stock bears interest at 3 per cent. per annum. Under The Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891, advances were provided for by the issue of Guaranteed Land Stock. Under the Irish Land Act, 1903, they are provided for by the issue of Guaranteed 2¾ per Cent. Stock. Both these stocks bear interest at 2¾ per cent. per annum. The amounts outstanding on the 31st March, 1905, were:—Guaranteed Land Stock, £13,135,098 5s. 8d.; Guaranteed 2¾ per Cent. Stock, £10,998,785 14s. 9d. These loans are not included among 'Other Capital Liabilities" because the stocks are not charged directly on the Consolidated Fund. The outstanding amounts of the three stocks are duly shown in the statement of Guaranteed Loans at pages 102 and 103 of the Finance Accounts.
£ Board of Works Loans 253,427 Land Commission Loans 8,249,378 £8,502,805