COLONEL BERESFORDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether some of the stores for which tenders were invited in the newspapers of February 25th last, including amongst other articles 3,100 yards of cocoa matting, 600 cocoa mats, and over 158,000 brushes and brooms of various kinds, could not be obtained direct from the several Government or other prisons at less cost than that paid to dealers, who buy such-named articles from the prison authorities and sell them to the Government at a profit?
§ MR. HUNTSir, the supply of stores for the use of the Navy from the convict prisons has been the subject of communi- 1183 cation between the Home Office and the Admiralty, and is still under consideration.