§ MR. O'BEIRNEsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, If he will lay upon the table of the House Copies of Correspondence between the War Department and Mr. Lancaster, from the 9th day of May, 1863, to the present time, on the subject of the endurance of heavy rifled Guns?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONsaid, in reply, that the Question of the hon. Member had been put on several occasions, and his reply had been that such correspondence as that referred to ought not to be laid upon the table, so that encouragement might not be given to inventors to write long letters, in order to get them published at the public expense. Of course, occasions might happen when it would be proper to make an exception to this general rule. The hon. Member, however, had the opportunity of bringing forward the subject in the form of a Motion, when he could state his reasons for desiring the production of the correspondence he had referred to.