52. Mr. ROBINSONasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state what was the total cost of his tour through various parts of the Empire; whether any part of the expenditure has been or will be met by the Dominions and Colonies that were visited; what is the estimated cost of the tour undertaken by the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies; whether the whole of the cost will be met from the sums allocated in the Estimates for the Department; and if it can be stated what other countries, in addition to Java, not part of the British Empire were visited and the objects of the visits?
§ Mr. AMERYIn reply to the first and second parts of the question, the total expenditure chargeable to the Vote for the Dominions Office in respect of my recent tour was £3,055. This is exclusive of the expenses of a member of the staff of the Empire Marketing Board who accompanied me. These expenses (which will be met from the Empire Marketing Fund) amounted to £554. During my stay in the Dominions which I visited and in Southern Rhodesia, I and my staff were the guests of the several Governments; I am glad to take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of their generous hospitality. As regards the third part of the question, the total estimated expenditure chargeable to Imperial Funds in respect of the Under-Secretary's recent tour in the Far East is £845, exclusive of the expenses (estimated at £337) of a member of the staff of the Empire Marketing Board, who accompanied Mr. Ormsby-Gore. Apart from this latter sum, which will be defrayed from the Empire Marketing Fund, the total cost of Mr. Ormsby-Gore's visit chargeable to Imperial Funds will be borne on the Colonial Office Vote. As regards the last part of the question, no foreign country, other than Java, which the tinder-Secretary visited in the interests of agricultural research and development in Ceylon and British Malaya, was included in his itinerary.