§ 10. Mr. RUPERT GWYNNEasked the Under-Secretary for India whether his attention has been called to the weekly circular issued by Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company, dated 22nd August, 1912, in which it is stated that silver was quoted at 29⅛d. for cash delivery (the highest cash price since 11th October, 1907); and will he state how much silver was actually purchased by Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company for the Government at that price within a month from that date?
Mr. BAKERThe amount bought at 291/8d. within a month from 22nd August was £600,000. It was all bought on 11th September, after about £1,250,000 had been obtained in the interval between the two dates at lower prices. As I explained to the hon. Member in reply to a question on 26th November last, the price of 29⅛d. included all costs up to delivery in India. Allowing for this, and for the fact that payment was made after delivery, the price paid corresponded to about 28 13–16d. for cash with delivery in Lundon.
§ Mr. GWYNNEDoes the Secretary of State still think that hundreds of thousands of pounds were saved by buying silver so cheaply through Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company?
§ 11. Mr. GWYNNEasked whether minutes of the proceedings of the Finance Committee of the India Council are kept; and, if so, whether the business trans actions and reports of personal interviews between Sir Felix Schuster, acting on behalf of the Government, and Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company appear therein from time to time?
Mr. BAKERThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The minutes record the Committee's recommendations as to the authority to be given from time to time by the Secretary of State in Council to the Chairman of the Committee to arrange for the purchase of silver; they do not record communications that passed between him, acting under such authority, and Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company.
§ Mr. GWYNNEDoes not the India Office think it necessary to keep a careful note of all conversations, telephone messages, and interviews relating to business transactions, in case of dispute arising afterwards?
§ Mr. GWYNNEIs not this an ordinary precaution taken by business houses, which the India Office should have taken?
§ 12. Mr. GWYNNEasked the Under-Secretary for India whether his attention has been called to the weekly circular issued by Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company to the public, dated 22nd August, 1912, in which it is stated that the steamers to Bombay and Calcutta that week would take £750,000 in bar silver, on account of the Indian Government, that this would be followed by further shipments, the probable requirements for silver coinage in the immediate future having been anticipated by purchases effected at the lower prices ruling some time ago, and that a knowledge of these facts disposed of any necessity for counting the Indian Government a factor in the market, and that the situation was full of interest, and, furthermore, that on that day (Monday) abundance of cash and forward silver being forthcoming, it became evident that whatever purchases the Indian Government had made in the past months it had now ceased to be a buyer; whether immediately before the issue of this circular Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company had been purchasing large quantities of silver on behalf of the Government, and immediately after they proceeded to buy over £2,000,000 of silver for the Government; and whether it was with the consent and approval of the India Office that this statement was deliberately made?
Mr. BAKERThe Secretary of State-knows nothing of these or any other trade circulars until they are issued. At the date of the particular circular mentioned, 979 the firm had completed all the orders that it had received, and had no reason to expect further orders.
§ Mr. GWYNNEIs the hon. Member aware of the letter written on 4th August "by Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company to the India Office, in which they refer to future large purchases within the next month?
§ Mr. GWYNNEYes, but not a month, and as a fact were not large sums purchased very shortly after the issue of this weekly circular?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member is stating an argument and not putting a question.
§ 13. Mr. GWYNNEasked the Under-Secretary for India if he will furnish a statement showing the rate of interest per annum which it cost the Indian Government to carry forward contracts for the purchase of silver by Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company at a loss, in some cases, of one-eighth of a penny per ounce plus one-eighth per cent. brokerage, and in other cases of three-sixteenths of a penny per ounce plus one-eighth per cent. brokerage, with the respective amounts so carried forward in each case?
Mr. BAKERI am circulating a statement with the Votes, from which it will be seen that the net immediate cost of the postponements would be represented by a percentage of about 1.68 per annum, against which must be set the advantage of secrecy and the effect of the postponements in counteracting the tendency to a rise in price.—[See Written Answers of this date.]
§ 14. Mr. GWYNNEasked the Under-Secretary for India whether Sir Felix Schuster reported his interviews and the receipt of the letter dated 8th January from Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company, suggesting they should purchase silver for the Government instead of the Bank of England, to the Finance Committee 980 of the India Council; and, if so, when and under what circumstances?
Mr. BAKERThe letter in question was handed by the recipient to the Financial Department of the India Office and was brought to the notice of the Finance Committee at their weekly meeting on 10th January. There is no written record of interviews having been reported.
§ Mr. GWYNNEIf the India Office were in possession of this letter, why was a copy of it not included in the correspondence which was asked for before Christmas on three different occasions?
Mr. BAKERThe hon. Member did not ask for all the correspondence at first. He asked for the contract. All his requests have been met, as they have been made.
§ Mr. GWYNNEIf the hon. Gentleman will refer to my questions, he will find that I did ask for the complete correspondence on several occasions.
§ 15. Mr. GWYNNEasked the Under-Secretary for India if he will grant the Return standing in the name of the hon. Member for the Eastbourne Division of Sussex?
Mr. BAKERThe Return asked for is apparently intended to show the hypothetical gain which would have been made if £5,000,000 worth of silver had been purchased in years when it was not required, and if the purchase had been made without affecting the price. The last assumption is quite improbable; and the proposed form of Return also neglects the loss that would have resulted from locking up for a long period so large a sum of money in a form in which there was no use for it at the time. The Return would therefore be misleading, and the Secretary of State is not prepared to grant it.
§ Mr. GWYNNEDoes not the Secretary of State think that it would be in the interest of the India Office to grant this Return, for if he is satisfied that the policy which has been followed is sound, this Return will be the means of proving it—I shall be quite willing to have another column inserted showing the loss of interest on the money tied up in purchasing the silver in advance of the requirements?
Mr. BAKERThe information for which the hon. Member asks is public property. The Secretary of State will not be a party to the publication of misleading information.