Sir Henry James on Tuesday asked for a Select Committee
to inquire into the circumstances attending the making of foreign loans, and made a most amusing speech. He took as crucial in- stances the loans effected by Honduras for £4,800,000, against which her creditors had nothing to set except £560,000 spent on an abandoned Railway, and a tin-box in the Bank of England, which the Bank could not open ; by Costa Rica, of 12,000,000, of which only £926,000 went to Costa Rica, the rest remaining in this ,country, while no interest was paid ; by San Domingo, of £529,000, ,of which only £50,000 ever reached that island, and was sent back .again ; and by Paraguay, of £2,400,000, of which only £237,000 -ever got there, while there was stated to be a previous debt never mentioned in this country of £47,000,000. Sir Stafford Northcote, in a very cautious and rather weak speech, granted the Committee, -which, we fear, can serve no good purpose. It cannot take evi- dence on oath, and as Sir Henry himself acknowledged, can hardly -suggest a remedy. You cannot distrain on a Government except by war. If you appoint an Inspector of Loans, you ought also to .appoint an Inspector of Prospectuses, whether issued by Govern- ments or Oil Companies ; and as to the way foreign Governments -are cheated, that is their fault for appointing dishonest agents. We might as well try to punish Ambassadors for sending home -false reports.
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