TREASURY CHEST FUND. (Hansard, 17 February 1927)

§ Mr. McNEILL
This matter is rather technical, and I will shortly explain how is arises. As hon. Members are aware, the Treasury Chest Fund is an institution for supplying the necessary machinery for making payments to foreign stations for public services. It involves, among other things, questions of exchange as between this country and foreign countries. The arrangement is that there is a definite capital sum which is kept constant and is used for transmission to the various paymasters abroad for making these payments and then the costs and the differences in the exchanges, which vary from time to time and from place to place, are put into a profit and loss account which sometimes shows a balance one way and sometimes shows a balance the other way. For instance, last year there was no occasion to have this Supplementary Estimate because there was a gain on the transactions, but this year it is the other way. Of course, the accounts are made up every year and ale dealt with as to gains or losses in the following year. The accounts for 1925–26 could not be made up in time to be included in the main Estimates for the present year, because the present year's Estimates were framed before the end of that financial year. They resulted, as a matter of fact, in a loss, and there is a debit balance on these various transactions of £4,537, and that is the amount which I ask the Committee to vote in the circumstances I have described.

§ Sir F. WISE
It is not often that the House of Commons has an opportunity of investigating the Treasury Chest Fund, and while I do not want to ask any invidious questions, I would like to know whether the United States debt is paid 1221 from this fund and if my right hon. Friend can state what is the capital of this fund and from where it comes. There is no mention in the Estimate as to the capital. I notice that the accounts in 1924 showed a gain of £1,912, but the Estimate before the Committee now indicates a loss of £4,537. I should like to know on what exchange was the loss occurred Was it in dollars or rupees; and can my right hon. Friend state whether it would not be possible to minimise that loss in the future?

§ Mr. McNEILL
My hon. Friend may be quite sure that the loss is minimised as far as possible. We do not go out of our way to make a loss.

§ Sir F. WISE
The exchanges may not always be very well bought.

§ Mr. McNEILL
That, of course, is a matter of judgment. I do not know whether my hon. Friend feels that he is in a position to manage this fund more successfully or not—perhaps he would. At any rate we do it as well as we can. Of course the American. Debt has nothing whatever to do with it. It has no relation to this whatever. Then, as regards the question as to whether it is an exchange of dollars or some other currency, it is an exchange of a number of different currencies, dollars in some cases, yen in others.

§ Sir F. WISE
On which does the loss come?

§ Mr. McNEILL
It is a question of balance. Year by year there is a loss made on one and a gain on another. There are many different stations. I could get the information for my hon. Friend. I have not got it at this moment, but I hope he does not want me to go into the detailed accounts of small sums showing where there is a gain in one station and a loss in another. I think the majority of the Committee will think that the balance between them, as shown, is sufficiently detailed and accurate. My hon. Friend asked me what the capital of the fund was. It is £700,000.

§ Mr. LEES-SMITH
We wish to express our disappointment at the results, this year, compared with those of the year before.. Last year there was a gain of £1,900.

§ Mr. McNEILL
If the hon. Member had listened to my speech, he would have heard me mention that.

§ Mr. LEES-SMITH
I did, but the right hon. Gentleman did not mention the special fact to which I wish to call attention, namely, that there was a gain last year of £1,900, but that gain was due to the transactions of 1924, when a Labour Government was in power. All that I rise to do is to express, not surprise at the results this year, but disappointment that the gain of £1,900 under a Labour Government has been transformed into a loss of £4,500 under the financial administration of the Tory party.