§ MR. D. SULLIVAN (Westmeath, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that, at a meeting of the Mullingar Asylum Board, held on the 10th instant, the Governors gave the contract for publishing the advertisements of the asylum to the Westmeath Guardian at 3d. per line, although the proprietor of a newspaper with a very much larger circulation in the County Westmeath tendered to insert the advertisements for 1½d. per line; and whether the ratepayers of the county have any redress in this matter?
§ MR. JACKSONI am informed that the Governors of the Mullingar District Lunatic Asylum accepted the tender for advertisements of the newspaper mentioned as being the oldest established paper published in the 1658 neighbourhood. They rejected the tender of the other newspaper referred to, as it is not published in the County Westmeath, and has only recently been circulated in the district. The Governors appear to have acted in their discretion, as, under the terms of their advertisement inviting tenders, they were not bound to accept the lowest or any tender.