§ 50. Mr. Liddallasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Treasury recently requisitioned dated Indian loans without giving choice between refusal and acceptance of the market, or any other price, so that holders might, if they had preferred to 453 do so, retain their investment until the earliest contractual repayment date; how, in this case the principle has been observed which he has laid down that there should be no infraction of an agreement calculated to undermine the contractual basis upon which borrowers invited the public to subscribe to dated loans; and whether the contract as to earliest date of repayment had been previously cancelled by agreement between lenders and the Treasury or the Indian Government?
§ Sir K. WoodAs I have already stated, the securities were acquired by the Treasury at the market price and there was no infraction of an agreement between lenders and borrowers. The grant to the holders of an option such as that suggested by my hon. Friend would have defeated the essential object of this transaction, which was to purchase the securities at market price from the holders for re-sale by the Treasury to the Government of India.