§ Sir J. HOODasked the President of the Board of Trade what is the total number and the gross amount of the claims lodged by British claimants with the Claims Department against the German Government, under Article 297 of the Treaty of Versailles; what is the total number of such claims, and the total amount thereof, which have been allowed and paid; and the total number of such claims, and the total amount thereof, which have been disallowed?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONUp to the 14th instant the claims by British nationals against the German Government lodged with the British Clearing Office under Article 297 of the Treaty of Versailles were 10,339 in number, of the aggregate amount of £61,789,995 15s. 3d.
265WThese claims come under two categories, namely:—
£ (a) Proceeds of liquidation estimated at 24,000,000 (b) Compensation estimated at upwards of 37,000,000 Of the claims under (a), £14,089,290 11s. 1d. has been admitted by the German Government and paid by the British Clearing Office.
Claimants under (b) must first obtain an award from the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal before they will be entitled to rank for payment against the German assets in British territory. The amount awarded up to the present in respect of these claims is £493,140 15s. 11d., and further claims for £1,579,211 have been agreed between the claimants and the German Government, and are awaiting formal judgment by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal. Further claims to the amount of £6,113,530 9s. 5d. have been disallowed or abandoned by the claimants, and the remainder are under consideration by the German Government. No payments have at present been made by the British Clearing Office in respect of claims under (b) for the reasons given in my reply to the hon. Member for Newcastle North on the 13th instant.
§ Sir J. HOODasked the President of the Board of Trade what is the total number and gross amount of the claims lodged by British claimants with the Claims Department against German nationals under Article 296 of the Treaty of Versailles; and what is the total number of such claims, and the total amount thereof, which have been allowed and paid, and the total number of such claims, and the total amount thereof, which have been disallowed?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONUp to the 14th instant 97,302 claims under Article 296, amounting without interest to £71,694,944, had been lodged with the British Central Clearing Office. In addition, a number of claims have been notified in blank which are awaiting completion until the claimants have obtained the necessary particulars. 55,885 claims, amounting to £28,295,485, or with interest added £34,136,816, have been admitted by the German Clearing Office, and paid by the British Clearing Office. Of the remainder, 13,875 claims, amounting to £14,774,144 have been rejected or aban-266W doned by the claimants, and claims amounting to £27,645,333 have been contested or are under consideration by the German Clearing Office.
§ Sir J. HOODasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will publish on or about the 16th of each month a statement showing how many claims under Article 296 and Article 297, respectively, of the Treaty of Versailles have been settled and the number of claims outstanding, together with the total amount of cash (apart from the realisation of capital assets) which has been received by the Public Trustee in respect of German nationals' property, rights, and interests in the United Kingdom; the total amount which the Public Trustee has realised by the sale of property, rights, and interest belonging to German nationals; the market value of the unrealised securities now in his hands formerly belonging to German nationals which are quoted on the London Stock Exchange; and the estimated value of the other assets formerly belonging to German nationals now in the hands of the Public Trustee; whether, in view of the fact that the clearing office has now been in operation for more than two years, arrangements can be made whereby any claims for less than £5 which are not disposed of by the 15th April next should be treated as abandoned; and whether he will give instructions to the Controller that the request of a British claimant to abandon his claim shall be complied with forthwith?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONI regret that I am unable to accede to the request contained in the first part of my hon. Friend's question. The labour involved in the preparation of the returns asked for would, in my opinion, be out of all proportion to their utility. With regard to the last part of the question, the Controller of the Clearing Office would not be justified in requiring creditors to abandon their claims, however small. He will, of course, consider any application by creditors for their withdrawal.