§ SIR BENJAMIN HALLsaid, he wished to ask the hon. Under Secretary for the Home Department a question with respect to a circumstance which, though not involving a breach of privilege, was fraught with material inconvenience to hon. Members. He believed that there were two modes in which the House and the public might have printed papers laid before them. The one was when papers were printed by order of the House, and then the expense of their publication and their distribution fell under the cognisance of Mr. Speaker. The other was when papers were printed by Her Majesty's command; they were then printed by the Stationery Office, and their printing was wholly out of the control of Mr. Speaker. If the papers were printed by time authority of that House, they were distributed by its officers; but if not, a number of copies were sent down to the library from the Stationery Office, and then distributed to Members. Other parties might, however, obtain such papers before the Members of that House. On the 11th of April a Report from the General Board of Health was presented, and was ordered by Her Majesty to be laid before both Houses. Some days ago that Report appeared in the columns of a morning newspaper; but hon. Members did not receive their copies until some time afterwards. He wished to know how many copies of the Report of the Board of Health were printed; whether the printer delivered out any copies previous to those sent for the use of Members of that House; if so, how many, and by whose authority did that delivery take place?
MR. FITZROYsaid, that early in the year the general authority for printing the 165 usual number of copies of the Report of the General Board of Health for official and parliamentary distribution was sent from the Home Office to the Stationery Office, and on the 10th April two printed copies were sent to the Home Office. One of these was laid on the table of that House, and the other upon the table of the House of Lords. But, between the time of issuing the order for printing the Reports and the time of their distribution, the Board of Health applied to the Home Office for 4,000 copies of the Report. The consent of the Home Secretary having been given, 4,000 copies were sent to the Board of Health, which they distributed themselves. He imagined that one of them had reached the paper, in whose columns the hon. Baronet had read it. He (Mr. Fitzroy) was not responsible for any irregularity that might have taken place in publishing documents intended for the use of Members of both Houses before they had been delivered to them. He could only be responsible for the manner in which the order for publication was given, and that was in the usual form on this occasion. He was not able to answer any questions with reference to the manlier in which the Board of Health had distributed the copies sent to them.
§ SIR BENJAMIN HALLsaid, he wished to know whether the printing of these 4,000 copies formed part of the expenditure of the Board of Health?
MR. FITZROYsaid, that he apprehended that it would be included in the general charge for printing Parliamentary Papers. He believed that the expense of the printing in connection with the Board of Health amounted to 20,000l. per annum.