§ Mr. GODFREY COLLINSasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state in what year the present conditions as to the sale and transfer of Consols were made; and whether, in view of the exception taken to the present method of transfer, etc., he will take steps to bring the conditions of sale and transfer into line with modern requirements?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThe system of transfer by entry in the books of the Bank of England was first introduced in connection with a Government loan raised in 1714 (afterwards redeemed), and was subsequently applied to the various loans afterwards consolidated into Three per Cent. Consolidated Stock (now Two-and-a-Half per Cent. Consolidated Stock) with regard to which stock it has been in operation since the stock was first introduced. The question of introducing a different method of transfer, either as an alternative to or in substitution for, the present method, is under the consideration of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.