§ MR. JENNINGS (Stockport)asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether any proposal has been made to the Postmaster General, the Treasury, or the Inland Revenue Department, by Messrs. De la Rue and Co., the present contractors for the postal stationery, to forego their existing contract, under certain conditions, with a view to enable the Post Office to reduce the price of post-cards to 6½d. and 7d. per dozen respectively; and, whether, in the interest of the public, the Government are prepared to entertain any such offer if made to them?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square)The answer to the first Question of the hon. Member is "Yes." His second Question raises a very delicate and difficult issue. On the one hand, there is a proposal the adoption of which would lead to an immediate economy to the Exchequer and an advantage to the public, but with the abandonment of the principle of competition with reference to the contract. On the other hand, there is the distinct recommendation of the Select Committee on the Revenue Estimates that, in future, all such contracts as this under consideration should be determined by public competition, and should not be made for a long period. There is nothing more tempting to a Government than in these cases, where contracts are about to expire in a couple of years, to secure an immediate reduction of the Estimates by the renewal of the contract on better terms, that renewal to be applicable to a portion of the contract still running. But it should be remembered that in such cases the contractor, of course, reckons upon compensating himself for what he immediately gives up to the advantage of the public by the higher terms which 1391 he secures for the latter part of the contract, and which are to the disadvantage of the public. To accept the present proposal would be to repeat, to a great extent, the proceeding which has given rise to so much complaint in the case of the existing contract. I am not, therefore, prepared to consider the present offer of Mr. De la Rue, unless the House were of opinion that there were exceptional reasons for accepting the offer which outweighed the advantages likely to arise from competition and from short contracts, to which the Committee attached so much importance.
§ MR. BARTLEY (Islington, N.)asked, Whether it did not occur to the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the whole difficulty would be solved were the public allowed to supply their own postcards cut to the proper size, and to put on a halfpenny stamp?
§ MR. GOSCHENsaid, that was a point upon which he could not express an opinion without consulting the Postmaster General.
§ MR. HANBURY (Preston)asked, for how long Messrs. De La Rue had proposed to renew the contract?
§ MR. GOSCHENTen years from the expiration of the present contract.