§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That a sum, not exceeding £12,500, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1919, for a Grant-in-Aid of the Serbian Relief Fund.
§ Mr. BALDWINI should like to say a word on this Vote, as no explanation appears on the face of it. The Government have sanctioned a Grant of £25,000 a year for three years and the payment for the first six months falls into this Supplementary Estimate. There will be a full Grant of £25,000 in the next two financial years, and in the third financial year the balance of £12,500 will be provided for. The amount is to be paid over to the Committee of the Serbian Relief Fund, to be expended entirely within their competence in affording educational facilities to young Serbians, irrespective of class, who may happen to be in this country as refugees and in need of education. The advantages are two-fold. In the first place, we ensure that young Serbians who otherwise could not have the benefit will be educated to fit them to assist in the reconstruction of their unhappy country. Secondly, I think that those who are educated in England will go back to Serbia firm friends of this country, and I believe that the action the Government has taken, endorsed, as I am sure it will be, by the House of Commons, will cement the alliance between that country and ours.
Sir J. D. REESI yield to no Member of this House in my admiration of the gallantry of our Serbian Allies. But it is somewhat strange that the British taxpayers should be called upon to pay for the education of young Serbians in England. Will my hon. Friend say how many are to be educated and who they are? Are they to be the future Ministers of Serbia? If so, on what principle are they to be selected? Is this really a Grant-in-Aid of the Serbian Relief Fund? One is fairly lost in admiration of the gallantry of the Serbians, for a more gallant race never lived. No nation ever displayed greater patriotism and gallantry, but still I do not understand why we should educate them.
§ Lord H. CAVENDISH-BENTINCKDoes my hon. Friend begrudge the money?
Sir J. D. REESI presume it is to come out of the taxation of the country and therefore it is competent for any hon. Member to ask why a Grant is made for this particular purpose.
§ Mr. BALDWINOf course my hon. and gallant Friend is perfectly within his right in putting the question, and with much pleasure I will try to answer him. He will remember that there are a number of Serbians in this country. Amongst them naturally there are a number of young men whose education has been interrupted, and it would be a lamentable thing if their time in England were to be spent without any profit to themselves. The Serbian Relief Fund, which raises money from the charitably-disposed in this country, were unable to raise sufficient money to do all the work they desired to do. The claims on the purses of the charitable in this country during the War have been very great indeed. When the Government were approached to see if they would give a modest Grant of this nature for the specific purpose of education and education alone, they consented with pleasure, and this £25,000 is in each year to be handed over at the discretion of the Minister. My hon. Friend will see that the money is not to be accounted for to the Comptroller and Auditor-General, but it is to be entirely within the competence of the Committed for distribution, provided that it is given solely and entirely for the education of these young men, so far as the amount will carry them.
Sir J. D. REESI take it this Vote will come up year after year, and that the present Grant is only for a period of one half-year.
§ Mr. BALDWINYes.