§ MR. LAIRDsaid, he rose to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty, If the Lords' Commissioners of the Admiralty were aware, when they issued the advertisement dated 19th January, 1864, announcing that the Transport Board had no objection to the reception of Messrs. Brown, Lennox, and Co.'s certificate of proof of cables for ships hired by that Department up to the 1st July, 1864, instead of those required by Lloyd's Committee, that Lloyd's Committee had extended the same privileges to many other manufacturers as they had done to Brown, Lennox, and Co.; and whether the Admiralty will, therefore, on application being made by any of the chain makers whose certificates are recognized by Lloyd's, be prepared to extend to such chain makers the same privilege as they have granted to Messrs. Brown, Lennox, and Co., and to notify the same by public advertisement, as they did in January last in respect to Messrs. Brown, Lennox, and Co.?
§ LORD CLARENCE PAGETreplied, that they would not proceed with the Navy Estimates on Monday, With reference to the question put by the hon. Gentleman (Mr. Laird), he had to state, that he was not aware that there had been any instances in which other firms besides Messrs. Brown, Lennox, and Co., had been allowed to test anchors and chains up to the 1st of July. But with respect to the latter part of the question, he had to say, if other chain makers would be good enough to make application to the Admiralty, the question would be fairly considered and judged upon its merits.