§ COLONEL CHATTERTON, pursuant to notice, begged to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty if the Admiralty, in September last, accepted tenders for the supply of 1,500 tierces of navy pork from a Hamburg house, at 5l, 6s. 6d. per tierce, refusing tenders from Irish provision merchants for the supply of that article? and whether it was his intention to continue to throw open the supply in future to foreign competition? and whether he had heard that the provisions supplied by foreign contract were recently rejected by an emigrant ship at Portsmouth, as bad, and greatly inferior to provisions made up in Ireland?
SIR F. T. BARINGsaid, that for some years past the contracts for provisions furnished to the Admiralty had been open to foreign as well as to home traders; and with regard to the first question put to him by the hon. and gallant Member for Cork, he had to state that it was quite true that in September last the Admiralty advertised for 6,000 tierces of pork, of which 1,500 were taken by a foreign house. With reference to the second question which had been put to him, he saw no reason to make any alteration in the present practice; and as to the remaining question, he had only to observe that the Emigration Commissioners were not under the control of the Admiralty, and that, consequently, he was not in a condition to say whether they had rejected any of the Government stores. He could state, however, that the provisions in question, so far as they had been supplied to our own Navy, had turned out to be very good.
§ COLONEL CHATTERTONthen gave notice that immediately after Easter he would bring the subject to which his question 1093 referred under the consideration of the House.
§ LORD J. MANNERSasked if any contracts for provisions had been taken by foreign houses in previous years?
SIR F. T. BARINGcould not say; but tenders had been received from foreign houses on former occasions.
§ Subject dropped.