§ MR. MOONEYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if his attention has been called to the fact that in the last issued Report of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland for the year 1904–5, page 134, it is stated that on the 31st March, 1905, the Department had invested in Local Loans Stock £250,000, Exchequer Bonds, 1905, £70,000, Guaranteed Land Stock £70,837 15s. 11d., Consols £20,000 and a further balance of £37,077 1s. 9d., making a total of £447,914 17s. 8d., and to the fact that it has recently been stated by the head of the Department that the sum at present held is of a face value of £379,431 15s., and of a real value at present prices of £357,430, with an additional sum held on deposit of £35,000, making a total value of £392,430; can he state how this decline of £45,484 17s. 8d. is accounted for; and, if it is by the sale of securities, will he state what was the face value of the securities so sold, their cost prices, the amount they realised, and the purposes on which they have been expended.
MR. BRYCEThe facts are as stated in the Question. The hon. Member, however, appears to be contrasting the 959 nominal values of the securities held by the Department on 31st March, 1905, in his first total of £447,914 17s. 8d., with the cash values of securities now held, in his second total of £392,430. The only change in the nature of these securities that has taken place since 31st March, 1905, is as follows:—The£70,000 Exchequer Bonds matured on 7th December, 1905, and were paid off at par, thus realising £70,000. They had been purchased in July, 1901, for £69,116. Of the amount realised, £35,000 was re-in- vested in 2¾ per cent. Guaranteed Land Stock. The balance of £35,000 was used to meet expenditure on marine works; new buildings and equipment of the Albert Agricultural College and of Athenry, Ballyhaise, and Clonakilty Agricultural Stations; the purchase of a dredger; and special investigations and experiments in flax and tobacco growing and curing, and peat-making.
§ MR. MOONEYIS it not the fact that the figures in the first part of the Question are the official figures given by the Board, and that those in the second part were supplied by the right hon. Gentleman himself?
MR. BRYCEYes, Sir, but the hon. Member in the one case gives the face value of the securities, and in the other the actual value.