HC Deb 26 April 1923 vol 163 cc719-20W
Mr. MOREL

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies the cost to the British taxpayer up to the present of the territories formerly held by Germany and Turkey, respectively, mandated to Great Britain and administered under the direct authority, giving the revenue and the expenditure for each mandated area?

Mr. ORMSBY-GORE

So far as the British spheres of Togoland and the Cameroons are concerned no cost in respect of administration has fallen upon this country. It is not possible to give exact separate figures of revenue and expenditure as these territories are administered as integral parts of the adjoining portions of the Gold Coast and Nigeria, but in both the local expenditure exceeds the local revenue. In Tanganyika Territory from 1920–21 to 1922–23 inclusive, £2,044,000 has been provided by His Majesty's Government in loans or grants in aid. The total local revenue and expenditure for the same period (taking estimated figures for 1922–23) is £3,134,150 and £5,206,718 respectively. In the case of Nauru for which the British Empire as a whole is mandatory, no cost has fallen upon the British taxpayer as any deficit in the administration of the territory is met out of the profits of the Phosphate Commission. With regard to the territories formerly included in the Turkish Empire, and now held under mandate, the expenditure incurred from Imperial funds has been approximately as follows:

1919–20 £75,000,000
1920–21 £40,000,000
1921–22 £26,695,367
1922–23 £10,818,500
The revised estimates of local revenue and expenditure for the year 1922–23 are:
Iraq:
Rupees.
Revenue 5,06,37,314
Expenditure 5,44,02,034
Palestine:
£E.
Revenue 2,062,192
Expenditure 1,819,151
The figures for Imperial expenditure in 1919–20 and 1920–21 are only approximate, and include the cost of demobilisation and of other services arising out of the War.