§ MR. PEEKsaid, he wished to ask the President of the Poor Law Board, Whether there is any objection to Returns not of sufficient general importance to be supplied at the public expense being granted to Members of Parliament willing themselves to bear the cost of printing, say a hundred copies?
§ MR. AYRTONsaid, in reply, that in cases where the question had arisen whether the Returns asked for involved general public interest or any special interest, those who desired the Returns had settled the question by paying for the printing; but if the expense of obtaining the Returns were referred to, that was a matter which had not been considered, and there would be great difficulty, probably, in the House ordering a Return which was not thought of general interest, unless the Member asking for the Return, or those interested, undertook to pay the expense.