§ MR. HANBURY (Preston)asked the Secretary of State for War, When the contract with Messrs. Wilkinson for the supply of 200,000 sword bayonets was made; what was the Committee which decided upon the shape and strength of those bayonets as contracted for, when did it sit, and when did it make its Report; what was the Committee which sat after the contract had been made, and for what reasons did it alter the decision as to strength and shape upon which the contract was made; whether the contract has been formally altered to meet the alteration in the weapons contracted for, whether the price is to 1733 be the same though the weapon is altered, and in what instalments, and at what periods, these 200,000 sword bayonets are now to be delivered; whether they are to be of Home manufacture; and, whether a contract has since been given for a large supply of other bayonets of a different pattern, to whom was it given, and when is it to be completed?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. E. STANHOPE) (Lincolnshire, Horncastle)No contract with Messrs. Wilkinson for a supply of 200,000 sword bayonets has been made; but a contract for the supply of 150,000 was signed on May 27, 1887. The Committee which reported in favour of this sword bayonet was the Committee on Small Arms, under the Presidency of Major-General Philip Smith, C.B., now commanding the 2nd Brigade at Aldershot. The Committee which sat after the contract had been made was this same Committee. It altered its decision as to the strength and shape of the sword bayonet; as it found, on experiment, that the shape originally recommended was not suitable for the smallbore rifle adopted during 1887. The contract has not yet been formally altered to meet this change; but Messrs. Wilkinson have been fully informed of what has been going on, and the contract will be amended accordingly. Fifty thousand sword bayonets of the original pattern (subject to some very minor alterations) are being manufactured to meet current wants. The dates for delivery of the remaining 100,000 of the new pattern will be decided when the contract is remodelled. All these sword bayonets will be of Home manufacture. No contract has since been given for a large supply of other bayonets.