§ SIR FREDERICK BANBURY (City of London)I beg to ask the Undersecretary of State for the Colonies why the Crown agents for the Colonies have given notice to pay the drawn bonds of the Northern Railways of the Transvaal at ninety-six instead of 100, and what justification there is for such a proposal.
§ MR. CHURCHILLThe Secretary of State is advised that ninety-six is a fair payment of their value, having regard to their average price before the war, and it should be remembered that in the Report of the Concessions Commission it was stated that there could be no obligation on the new Government to place the debenture holders in a better position than they held under the late Government (page 53 of Cd. 623.)
§ SIR FREDERICK BANBURYIs the hon. Gentleman aware that the bonds of the Pretoria and Johannesburg Railway were paid off at 100? What justification is there for treating those bonds in a different manner?
§ MR. CHURCHILLThat is only a variation of the original Question; I cannot suggest any convenient variation of my Answer.