§ MR. HERBERT SAMUEL (Yorkshire, Cleveland)To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state whether it is a usual course for the Government of the Transvaal to lend money on mortgage to private individuals; and, if so, whether the practice has his sanction; or, if the Joan to Mr. Van Rensberg was exceptional, why the privilege was granted in his case.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton.) I understand that no difference was made between the treatment accorded to Mr. Van Rensberg and that accorded to any other borrower. It has, I understand, always been the practice for the Transvaal Government to lend funds at its disposal on mortgage on land. The -question of the investment of these funds has not been submitted for my sanction, nor, having regard to the principle frequently stated in this House, do I think it necessary that the investment of funds temporarily at the disposal of the Transvaal Government should be controlled from here.