§ MR. W. H. SMITH (for Lord GEORGE HAMILTON)asked the Secretary of State for India, If it is true that the permission given in 1878 by the India Office to the Indian Government to obtain by open tender in India the necessary stores for the Stationery Office for the Bengal Presidency have been suddenly cancelled from England; and, if so, upon what grounds?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONThe permission which the noble Lord probably refers to was intended to encourage the purchase in India of articles manufactured in that country, or usually procurable in the local market, of satisfactory quality and price. But when stores are of such a nature that they have to be purchased in England, the demand should be forwarded to and dealt with by the India Office. More precise instructions to this effect were sent to India in May, 1880, and were adopted by the Government of India in a Resolution dated November, 1880. No other instructions on this subject have recently been sent to India.