§ MR. BROOKE ROBINSON (Dudley)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the new signal light on the Clock Tower of the House, which is a dioptric lens of the second order, was procured by competitive tenders from the English and French constructors, in accordance with the practice of the Board of Trade with regard to lighthouse apparatus; and, if not, for what reason a French firm was chosen to supply it, without any opportunity having been given to any English firm to compete?
§ THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE,) Bradford, CentralI have been requested by my right hon. Friend to answer this question. Competitive tenders were not invited for the lens and apparatus for the new signal light. The order was given by the Office of Works to Mr. J. R. Wigham, of the firm of Messrs. Edmund-son and Company, of Westminster and Dublin, who is the patentee of the lighthouse apparatus, which has been in use on the Clock Tower since 1872.