Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the royalties payable to the British South Africa Company in respect of Rhodesian minerals should be included in the administrative revenue of the territory, or whether such royalties will continue to be payable to the company as commercial profits in the event of His Majesty repealing the administrative Clauses of the Charter next October?
Mr. HARCOURTThe mining revenue of Southern and Northern Rhodesia has for some time past been divided into administrative and commercial under a working arrangement provisionally accepted by His Majesty's Government, which does not, however, exempt the company's mining receipts of a commercial character from the general liability attaching to all their assets to make good administrative deficits. I do not understand that the company's claim to these items which are treated as commercial is in any way based on anything in the Charter, and any question as to their rights out-842W standing whenever the administrative provisions of the Charter are withdrawn would presumably have to be settled by the Courts.