§ MR. HARDCASTLEsaid, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether it is true that the Admiralty just before the General Election subscribed for a large number of copies of a weekly periodical called the Will-of-the-Wisp; whether the subscription to that paper has been discontinued since the present Board of Admiralty took Office; and, on what ground the subscription was made and discontinued?
§ MR. CHILDERSIn reply to my hon. Friend I have to state that, on the 15th of October last, the officer who advises the Admiralty as to the periodicals to be supplied to the fleet and the naval hospitals, recommended that the usual numbers should be subscribed for in the case of two weekly papers—Judy and the Will-of-the-Wisp, and ninety-six of each of these papers were consequently ordered. On the 11th of December the same officer recommended that the subscription to the Will-of-the-Wisp should be discontinued, and orders accordingly were given on the 14th of December. In reference to the second part of the Question, I have to state that the present Board took office a week or ten days later; that I had therefore nothing to do with the discontinuance of the paper, and that the first I heard of the subscription or its discontinuance was by having pointed out to me an article in the Will-of-the-Wisp in which strong language was used against me personally for having stopped the paper. The reason why the two papers were recommended to be subscribed for was that they were likely to exercise a beneficial influence over the crews of Her Majesty's ships. I have no wish to hurt any one's feelings, and I will therefore request my hon. Friend to excuse me if I do not give the reason why the late Board of Admiralty were advised to discontinue the Will-of-the-Wisp.