§ 49. Lieut.-Colonel HOWARD-BURYasked the Prime Minister whether he can state the total amounts of reparations that have been received by this country from Germany in cash and in goods since the end of the War, excluding the amounts paid in respect of the cost of the Army of Occupation on the Rhine; and what is the approximate amount received annually by this country from the export duties payable in respect of German goods shipped to this country?
§ Mr. BALDWINMy hon. and gallant Friend may take it that receipts from Germany to 31st December last were, roughly, 1,150 million gold marks, of which about nine-tenths were required for reimbursement of coal advances under the Spa Protocol, costs of occupation and similar charges. In addition, paper marks equal in value to 105 million gold marks were requisitioned, all for the costs of occupation. The pound sterling is now worth 19½ gold marks, but its value has fluctuated during the period over which the payments were spread. For further details I must ask him to await publication of a volume which the Reparation Commission propose to issue through the Stationery Office, and which I understand to be in an advanced stage of preparation. As regards the second part of the question, the receipts under the Reparation Recovery Act last year were £7,476,000.
§ 86 and 88. Mr. WISEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if the Repartition 661 Commission approved of the 50,000,000 dollars German Government loan; and what is the security for this loan;
(2) if the reported subscription of 12,500,000 dollars of the German Government's loan of 50,000,000 dollars will be handed over to the Reparation Commission; and, if the issue was underwritten, if the balance of the amount left with the underwriters will be credited to the Reparation Commission?
§ Mr. BALDWINA communication was made by the Reparation Commission on the 28th March in the following terms:
With reference to the extraordinary receipts which are being attained by the German Government from the recent issue of a gold loan, the Reparation Commission calls the attention of that Government to the provisions of Article 248 of the Treaty of Versailles. The fact that the German Government has not thought it proper to ask for an exception under that Article makes it necessary for the Commission to make an express reserve as against subscribers to the loan no less than other parties, of its right of priority against any funds which may be assigned by the German Government to the payment of interest or repayment of capital of the loan in question, more particularly if the extraordinary receipt itself is not applied to the discharge of reparation annuities.
§ Mr. BALDWINI cannot answer that question without notice.
§ Mr. BALDWINI beg the hon. Member's pardon. I will communicate with him later on that point.
§ 87. Mr. WISEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Reparation Commission has a lien on all the German Government's revenue for payment of reparations?
§ Mr. BALDWINI would refer the hon. Member to the terms of the first paragraph of Article 248 of the Treaty of Versailles.