§ * MR. SCOTT (Ashton-under-Lyne)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the premises, plant, and materials of Messrs. Mendelssohn and Bruce, late proprietors of the Standard and Diggers News, of Johannesburg, were, during the South African War, taken possession of 635 by the British military authorities, and used by these authorities for their own purposes for a period of twenty months; that the accounts of the business during this period, as vouched for by the Auditor-General at Pretoria, and subsequently audited by Messrs. Turquand, Young, and Co., of London, show a profit of £24,855 15s. 4d.; that the late Colonial Secretary, in a letter dated March, 1905, stated that Messrs. Mendelssohn and Bruce were entitled to receive a refund of the profits actually made by the military authorities out of the business carried on in the firms' premises, and through the use of their plant and materials; and will he explain why His Majesty's Government have now offered Messrs. Mendelssohn and Bruce the sum of £2,500 conditionally upon receiving from them a receipt in full discharge of all liability.
§ MR. CHURCHILLThere were two premises of Messrs. Mendelssohn and Bruce used for nineteen and sixteen months respectively; the account quoted is subject to certain adjustments, and it is not admitted that the profits shown can be finally treated as actual profits. It is the fact that Mr. Lyttelton acqainted Messrs. Mendelssohn and Bruce in March, 1905, that he considered that they were entitled to the profits made, but they were subsequently informed by Mr. Lyttelton through Sir John Puleston, who had interested himself in the case, that Lord Selborne had very carefully gone into the matter and had come to the conclusion that the proper course was to pay a reasonable rental for their premises as had been done in certain other cases. Messrs. Mendelssohn and Bruce themselves made their original claim, which was for £9,525, on the basis of rent and not of profits. The offer of £2,500 has been made as the result of a careful investigation by an independent expert as to what would be a fair and reasonable payment in respect of the use of the company's premises and plant by the Transvaal authorities. It is admitted that at first there was some confusion in dealing with the matter locally, and that regrettable delay has arisen thereby.
§ * MR. SCOTTDo I understand that £2,500 was offered to cover rent and the use of plant valued at £20,000? One of these premises let at £300 a month.
§ MR. CHURCHILLsaid the premises were not let at £300 a month during the first month of the military occupation, nor could the profits of a newspaper conducted by the military authorities be balanced against the profits which might be made by a commercial company conducting a newspaper not during a period of war.
§ MR. PAUL (Northampton)asked whether Messrs. Mendelssohn and Bruce had refused an offer of £80,000 for the Standard and Diggers News from the mine-owners on the Rand, who wanted to use it for their own purposes.
§ MR. CHURCHILLA great many people lost a great deal of money in the South African War.
§ In reply to Mr. LEHMANN (Leicestershire, Market Harborough)—
§ MR. CHURCHILLsaid it was true that the late Secretary of State considered that a fair basis would be the basis of profits; but on further consideration he came to the conclusion it would not be a fair basis.