§ MR. HOYLE (Lancashire, S.E., Heywood)asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether the Superintendent of Army Clothing, Madras, in inviting tenders for the use of the Army Clothing Department for the official year, 1888–9, made the following stipulation:—"Articles of European manufacture are not required;" and, if so, what is the reason that goods of Lancashire and Yorkshire manufacture are excluded from competition in Madras with those of "local manufacture or indigenous origin."
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JOHN GORST) (Chatham)It is a rule of the Indian Service that articles of European manufacture must be purchased through the Store Department of the India Office, in order that they may be properly inspected in this country. A large demand for Army clothing for Madras for 1888–9 is now being dealt with in that Department. Where it is more economical to use an article of local manufacture or indigenous origin, the purchase is effected in India. The expression referred to in the Question, which does not seem a very happy one, appears intended to give notice of this limitation of authority to purchase on the part of the Government of Madras. The attention of the Government of Madras will be called to the subject.