§ MR. STUART-WORTLEYasked the Surveyor General of the Ordnance, Whether there is any truth in the report that the Government intend to supersede, by an extension of the Government factories at Woolwich or otherwise, the private firms now engaged in supplying the Government with heavy steel forgings for guns; and, if so, under what Vote in the Estimates the increased charge for such works will appear?
§ MR. BRAND,in reply, said, that he had already informed the manufacturers of Sheffield, through his right hon. Friend the Vice President of the Council (Mr. Mundella), of the state of the case. There was no plant in the Royal Arsenal for the manufacture of steel forgings of a size larger than was required for six-inch tube and eight-inch breech pieces. There was no intention of setting up plant for the manufacture of heavy steel forgings.