85. Sir F. HALLasked the, First Commissioner of Works whether, with regard to the Royal Commission which was appointed under charter to administer the surplus from the great exhibition of 1851, which surplus amounted to £186,000, he will state whether the Commission still possess an estate which is worth half a million, and have an available income of over £20,000 a year; and whether, in view of the large sum of money involved, he will place before the House a statement of account showing how the yearly income at the disposal of the Royal Commission is allocated?
Mr. GRAHAMI have been asked to reply to this question. In reply to the first part of the question, the Commissioners of the exhibition of 1851 possess, as a result of judicious investment of the original surplus funds of that exhibition, an estate valued at present at approximately £500,000, with a nett income of over £20,000. This income is entirely devoted to scholarships and grants to research students, nearly half of which are allocated to research students from overseas and to industrial bursaries. In reply to the second part of the question, the Commissioners have no objection to their accounts for the year ending 31st December, 1923, being laid before Parliament with a memorandum explanatory of the activities of the Royal Commission past and present. This will accordingly be done.