§ COLONEL LOCKWOODTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in regard to the Public Works Loan Commission, if he will say how many accounts were open in the year 1896; whether the number has largely increased up to the present time; and whether they involve a great amount of separate calculations of interest, and a large number of half-yearly payments.
(Answered by Mr. Asquith.) The number of accounts open in the financial year 1895–6 was 11,390. This number 913 has increased to 18,392 in 1905–06. All the Commissioners' loans are repayable by half-yearly payments, and the number of separate calculations involved in respect of these payments is considerable.