§ MR. B. S. STRAUS (Tower Hamlets, Mile End)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the amount of the Suitors Fund at the present moment, and state whether it is put to any public use.
(Answered by Mr. Lloyd-George.) The cash liability of the Paymaster-General to suitors in the Supreme Court of Judicature, England, amounted on 30th September, 1908, to £2,380,216 7s. 9d. To the extent of £1,932,134 15s. 6d. this liability is not represented by cash in the Paymaster's hands, but by a contingent claim upon the Consolidated Fund. This claim arises from the fact that in 1870 (under the Act 32 and 33 Vic, c. 91) Government securities in which funds in Court had been invested were cancelled. This operation effected a reduction in the amount of the National Debt, and a corresponding liability was imposed on the Consolidated Fund. The original liability was £2,764,744 1s. 10d., which has since been reduced to £1,932,134 15s. 6d. The remainder of the Paymaster's liability to suitors was represented on 30th September last by: (1) Cash to the amount of £377,992, lodged with the National Debt Commissioners and employed by them to earn income for the purpose of paying the interest due to suitors in respect of moneys placed on the deposit; and (2) by a working balance of £70,090.