§ 52. Mr. GILBERTasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that a British company, the Columbia Navigation Company, entered into a contract with a German firm in Bremen in August, 1913, for the delivery of steamers and boilers, and that one of the conditions of the contract was that the full amount of same £7,000 was to be deposited with the Deutsche Bank, London, which was done, and that of this amount the bank have paid over to the Bremen firm £2,567 up to date, against which no delivery of goods has been made; whether he is aware that, as the contract cannot now be carried out, the Columbia Navigation Company have applied to the liquidator of the bank here for the refund of the balance of the deposit, £4,432, which is still here, and that special permission was given for the bank to apply to their Bremen office for permission to repay the balance, who refused consent on the probability of the contract being completed after the War; whether he is aware that the instructions of the Government to the liquidator of German banks does not allow him to return British companies moneys in the case set out; whether it is the intention of the Government that German contracts should be maintained in this manner until after the War; and, if not, will he forthwith issue new instructions to the liquidator of the German banks that all British money retained here by the Deutsche Bank, London, as in the case of the Columbia Navigation Company, and any similar cases, shall be returned to the British owners at once?
§ The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER (Mr. Bonar Law)No instructions have been given by the Government prohibiting the return of the sum in 679 question to the company. I understand that certain arrangements were proposed under which the money would have been repaid but that they were not agreed to by the company. It will be the duty of the controller appointed under the Trading With the Enemy Amendment Act, 1916, to apply to the Court for directions whether the money deposited with the London agency of the Deutsche Bank should be refunded to the company.