§ MR. McCRAE (Edinburgh, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he can state whether the revenues of the Transvaal and Orange River Colony are large enough to meet the necessary annual contribution for the redemption of a first instalment of £10,000,000 of the proposed Transvaal loan.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. LYTTELTON, Warwick and Leamington)The figures which I gave in my reply to the hon. Member for East Perthshire on Monday last † of the estimated revenue and expenditure for June, 1904-June, 1905, and the results for the half-year ended December 31st, 1904, do not show a sufficient margin at present.
§ MR. McCRAEHas the right hon. Gentleman taken the Chancellor of the Exchequer into his confidence?
§ MR. LYTTELTONYes, Sir
§ MR. WHITLEYI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he has addressed any communication to the Transvaal Government urging the desirability of an early payment of the first instalment of the promised war contribution.
§ MR. LYTTELTONI have already stated, in reply to a similar Question on the 22nd instant,† that I am not prepared to make any statement on this subject.
§ SIR ALBERT ROLLIT (Islington, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for
† See page 591.† See page 891.1472 the Colonies what, if any, were the conditions attaching to the South African War Contribution Loan of £30,000,000; were there any restrictions as to the period of issue; what was the exact nature of the guarantee, and who were the guarantors; and when is it proposed to issue the loan.
§ MR. LYTTELTONThe offer to the late Colonial Secretary and the arrangement on behalf of the guaranteeing firms will be found at page 21 of Cd. 1552 and page 2 of Cd. 1895. As to the conditions, restrictions, nature of guarantee and names of guarantors, I would refer my hon. friend to Cd. 1895 and to the speech of my right hon. friend the Member for West Birmingham on May 6th, § 1903. As to when it is proposed to issue the loan I am as yet unable to make any statement
§ MR. McCRAEWill the surviving guarantors be liable for the whole of the £10,000,000 if some of the guarantors, die, or are unable to meet their obligations?
§ MR. LYTTELTONI must ask for notice of that Question.
§ MR. WHITLEYasked whether, in his speech of May 6th, 1903, the right hon. Member for West Birmingham did not say that the £35,000,000 which we had already advanced was conditional on and went along with the £30,000,000 which the Transvaal now showed no intention of paying.
§ MR. LYTTELTONThe speech of my right hon. friend contained several conditions under which this war contribution was promised, and they appear in that speech. The suggestion the hon. Member has made is not a full or otherwise than a misleading account of the whole speech.
§ MR. WHITLEYDoes the right hon. Gentleman deny that these words were used—"conditional on"—
§ MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! The hon. Member cannot on this Question discuss what took place in a previous debate.
§See (4) Debates, cxxi., 1522.
§ MR. WHITLEYBut in his Answer the right hon. Gentleman refers to that speech.
§ MR. SPEAKERThat is true, but it does not entitle the hon. Member to cross-examine a Minister as to its contents.
§ DR. MACNAMARA (Camberwell, N.)Will the Colonial Secretary recommend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to grant a similar indulgence to the income-tax payers at home.
§ [No Answer was returned.]