§ 15. Mr. ROBERT HARCOURTasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office, as representing the Secretary of State for India, if he will state how many firms are on the approved list of borrowers to whom loans are granted on security from the India Office balances; whether Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company are in- 1004 cluded; and when they and the other firms were placed on the list?
§ Mr. H. BAKERThe list contains the names of sixty-one firms, of whom twenty-eight were on the list in 1895, sixteen were added between 1895 and 1905, and seventeen between 1905 and 1912. Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company have been on the list since 1887.
§ 16. Mr. ROBERT HARCOURTasked whether there is any reason of public policy which prevents the publication of the names of the approved borrowers to whom loans are granted on security from the India Office balances?
§ Mr. H. BAKERThe relation of the Secretary of State to the firms included in the list is similar to that between a bank and the customers to whom it lends on security, and is therefore regarded as confidential. It has always been so regarded by the India Office and the Secretary of State is of opinion that this is in the public interest. I am, however, able to say that in the present instance if it is desired the information shall be given to the House.
§ 17. Mr. R. HARCOURTasked what were the. Secretary of State's reasons for employing Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company to purchase silver during the present year?
§ Mr. H. BAKERAs I recently explained to the House, the Secretary of State had reason to believe that some speculation for a rise in silver was in progress when the purchases were about to be begun, and he therefore thought it essential that the purchases should be made as secretly as possible. For this reason it was considered desirable to employ a firm known not to have acted before in this connection for the India Office rather than one whose operations would probably have been suspected by the market to be on behalf of the India Office. There are only four firms who act as silver brokers on a large scale; two had previously been employed by the Bank of England acting on behalf of the India Office; and the Secretary of State was fully satisfied that, of the two remaining ones, Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company were the more suitable to be employed for purchases of the magnitude required.
§ Mr. KEBTY-FLETCHERIs the hon. Member aware that the head of the firm of Samuel Montagu and Company is the 1005 brother of the Under-Secretary of State for India? Is he aware of that?
§ Mr. RUPERT GWYNNEAre we to take it that the Secretary of State is satisfied that he has got silver cheaper through Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company than he could have done through any other firm?
§ Mr. BAKERThe Secretary of State is certainly satisfied that the action he took resulted in a public advantage financially.
§ 18. Mr. R. HARCOURTasked whether the hon. Gentleman will say what part, if any, was taken by the Under-Secretary of State for India in the arrangements for the purchase of silver in the present year and in the management of the temporary loans granted to approved borrowers from the cash balances at the India Office?
§ Mr. H. BAKERThe first purchase of silver in the present year was made on a recommendation of the Finance Committee of the Council of India, dated 27th February, 1912, in the following terms: "The Finance Committee recommend that their Chairman, or, in his absence, Mr. Currie, be authorised to arrange for the purchase of not more than £1,000,000 of silver, if he thinks fit, through such agency and in such manner as he thinks advisable. The Committee would draw attention to the importance of secrecy." This recommendation was approved by the Secretary of State and the Council of India; and the purchase was accordingly made under the instructions of Sir Felix Schuster, the Chairman of the Finance Committee. Subsequent purchases were decided on in the same manner. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is not a Member of the Finance Committee or of the Council of India, and I am assured that the papers show, and it is also within the distinct recollection of the members of the India Office concerned, that he took no part in the matter and was not consulted at any stage. With regard to the loans referred to in the latter part of the question, they are arranged by the Secretary of State's broker under the daily supervision of the Accountant-General of the India Office and the more general supervision of the Finance Committee, to whom all transactions are submitted at their weekly meeting and whose Chairman is consulted on any point outside the ordinary routine. It has never been the practice of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to take part 1006 in these transactions, and the present Under-Secretary has never done so on any occasion.
§ Sir J. D. REESMay I ask the hon. Gentleman whether the Secretary of State does not think, however correct the attitude of the Under-Secretary may be, it is better that he should be in his place when Parliament is sitting to answer questions?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat does not arise out of this question.
§ 19. Mr. R. HARCOURTasked whether the hon. Gentleman will say to how many firms on the approved list of borrowers loans have been made on security from the India Office balances in the present year?
§ Mr. H. BAKERDuring the year 1912 loans have been made on security to forty-three firms on the approved list of borrowers.