§ Mr. RUPERT GWYNNEasked the Under-Secretary of State for India what was the total amount of silver purchased through Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company of which delivery was postponed; what was the additional amount of brokerage entailed by this transaction, and what was the additional cost arising from this postponement?
§ Mr. HAROLD BAKERThe total amount of which delivery was postponed was £661,000, and the additional amount of brokerage entailed by this transaction was £826 13s. 9d. The additional cost of repurchase was £4,087 7s. 1d. As a set-off there was a gain in interest on £661,000 which is estimated at about £3,030. There was also, it cannot be doubted, a considerable gain from the postponement of delivery, in its enabling further larger purchases to be made before attention was 1757W attracted to them, and consequently in their being made at a lower price than would otherwise have been the case.
§ Mr. GWYNNEasked from what port the sycee and British dollars referred to in the letter of 16th September from Messrs. Samuel Montagu and Company to the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was shipped; and on what date and to what port it was originally consigned?
§ Mr. BAKERThe sycee was shipped from Shanghai, and the British dollars from Hong Kong, on 10th and 14th September, respectively. The silver was consigned via Colombo for optional delivery at Bombay or Calcutta.