§ COLONEL HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury if he is in a position to contradict the statements current in the trade that the Post Office Guide is printed on paper made in Germany, and that large consignments thereof arrive weekly in London on account of Her Majesty's Government; and, in the contrary case, if, having regard to the necessity of finding employment for the workless industrial population of the United Kingdom, any stipulation is imposed upon contractors that the material supplied at the cost of the public Revenue shall be, whenever practicable, produced within Great Britain or Ireland?
§ *THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Sir J. T. HIBBERT,) OldhamI am not in a position to say whether the particular paper used for the Post Office Guide may or may not have been manufactured in Germany. It is supplied to the printer from the general stores of the Stationery Office. No contracts for paper or any other stores purchased by the Stationery Office are given to firms outside the United Kingdom. There is no condition in any of the contracts requiring that time articles contracted fur shall be made in the United Kingdom, nor has any direction or authority been given to the Stationery Office, either by the Government or by Parliament, to limit purchases to articles made in the United Kingdom.