§ MR. PROVAND (Glasgow, Blackfriars, &c.)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, If he will lay upon the Table, before the Naval Estimates come on, the Agreements made by the Admiralty with steamers trading to New York for hiring them to be used as armed cruisers or otherwise in time of war, and also such Correspondence as will enable Members to understand the contracts that have been entered into?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON) (Middlesex, Ealing)The Correspondence, which details at length the arrangements as to hiring made with steamers trading to New York, was laid on the Table of the House by command 738 on the 18th of March last, and is numbered 5,006. The formal legal contracts based on this correspondence are in the hands of the Treasury Solicitor.