§ 30. Mr. BOOTHasked what amount of obligation the Government took on behalf of the financial houses in the City of London in August, 1914; and what proportion was connected with the financing of German trade?
§ Mr. MONTAGUAs stated in the House of Commons on the 27th November, 1914, the amount of bills of exchange discounted by the Bank of England under Government guarantee at the outbreak of war was £120,000,000. I have no data for estimating what proportion of the obligations in respect of which assistance was given had arisen out of trading transactions with Germany.
§ Mr. BOOTHWill the Treasury calculate—it must be quite easy to make a calculation—and find out what amount was devoted to financing German trade?
§ Mr. MONTAGUI should like to give my hon. Friend all the information I can, but if he considers the matter, he will see that the 'Chancellor of the Exchequer made some observations on the probable amount in his last speech in the House. There were £120,000,000 of the bills at the commencement of the War. There are now only £31,000,000. It would be a very laborious business to go back to all the out-of-date, obsolete, and paid-off bills to find out which were concerned with trading transactions with Germany.
§ Mr. BOOTHDo I understand that the Treasury decline to inform the House of the huge amount of finance bills arising from German trade?
§ Mr. MONTAGUIf the hon. Member will kindly confer with me, in order that I can see how I can get the information, I shall be very happy to do anything I can for him.