§ MR. HANBURY (Preston)asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether the competition for the supply of Indian stamped papers has yet been settled; whether it is a fact that, in the early part of the year, Mr. Purcell, the Controller of Stamps, reported to the Secretary of State, or to the Board of Inland Revenue acting as his agents in this matter, that stamps which now cost £34,000 a-year could, upon competition, be obtained for some £19,500; whether the Controller's estimate has been borne out by the result of the competition; what is the name of the firm whose tender has been accepted; and, what is the aggregate amount of that tender?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JOHN GORST) (Chatham)I have to answer the first of the hon. Member's Questions in the affirmative. The second I have also to answer in the affirmative, the result being arrived at partly by the use of cheaper paper. With regard to the third Question, I have to state that the new contract is £19,928 per annum, instead of £34,840; but of this reduction of £14,912, £7,188 is due to the substitution by the Government of India of a cheaper paper for certain stamps, as allowed for by Mr. Purcell. Messrs. De la Rue and Co.'s tender was accepted.