§ MR. HANBURYI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India whether firms which have been for some years past struck off the list of contractors to the War Office for having supplied bad material have nevertheless since been continuously allowed to contract with the India Office for supplying material of like description for the forces in India; whether, when Messrs. Ross and Company were, struck off the list of contractors to the War Office, information to that effect was supplied to the India Office for its guidance in respect of the Army in India; and whether, on this and similar matters of common interest, it is the custom for other Departments to communicate with the India Office, or vice versâ, for their mutual guidance or protection?
*MR. G. RUSSELLI am not aware of any instance where a firm which has been removed from the list of contractors to the War Office is continuously allowed to contract with the India Office for the supply of stores. The removal of Ross and Co. from their list was not communicated by the War Office to the India Office. Ross and Co. have never been on the India Office Store Department list of contractors, as they are, it is understood, manufacturers of accoutrements which are obtained locally, and rarely supplied from this country. The reply to the last question is, Yes.
§ MR. J. BURNSCould not the Government have a black list in which all such contractors might he pilloried; and could not that list be open to all Departments?