§ 22. Mr. RUPERT GWYNNEasked if the £2,150,000 remitted from India in respect of profit on coinage of rupees has been invested on behalf of the gold standard reserve; and, if so, in what securities, or has it been added to the reserve in gold, or how otherwise has it been dealt with?
§ Mr. C. ROBERTSThe sum of £2,150,000 has been added in sovereigns to the gold standard reserve.
§ 23. Mr. GWYNNEasked if he will say why the Council drafts were sold in 1913–14 for a sum of £1,456,100 in excess of all Home requirements; why a closer estimate of these requirements was not made; how the money was employed pending its requirement for the following year; and if the sales for the requirements of 1914–15 will be correspondingly reduced?
§ Mr. C. ROBERTSThe reasons for selling Council drafts in excess of the Secretary of State's immediate requirements are given in the Report of the Royal Commission on Indian Finance and Currency. I would refer the hon. Member especially to paragraphs 176 and 179. The estimate of requirements in 1913–14 was as close as was possible when it was made. Money held in England in excess of the standing balance at the Bank of England was lent in the usual way to approved borrowers. The sales in 1914–15 will be conducted in accordance with the policy recommended by the Royal Commission, which makes it impossible to say now what the total amount will be.
§ Mr. GWYNNEAre we to understand that the India Office accepted in its entirety the Report of the Royal Commission?
§ Mr. C. ROBERTSNo; I said nothing of the kind.
§ Mr. GWYNNEWhy does the hon. Gentleman quote the Royal Commission's Report as a reason for having exceeded the requirements of the country when the Royal Commission's Report was not issued until after the requirements had been exceeded by this sum of over £2,000,0007
§ Mr. C. ROBERTSI think the general reasons were stated in the paragraph to which I referred the hon. Member.
§ 24. Mr. GWYNNEasked how much of the £1,415,700 additional Home expenditure on capital account during the year 1913–14 represents discharge of debt; what was the nature of the debt; and what was the nature of the other expenditure on capital account?
§ Mr. C. ROBERTS£280,000 represents the discharge of guaranteed debenture 1175 bonds of the Bengal Nagpur Railway Company, for which the Secretary of State was liable. The other additional expenditure on capital account was made up as follows:—
| £ | |
| Additional expenditure on Railways | 1,098,700 |
| Additional expenditure on Delhi | 50,500 |
| Deduct shortage of expenditure on Irrigation | 13,500 |
| Total | £1,135,700 |