§ MR. JAMES LOWTHER (Kent, Isle of Thanet)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether it is the case that no copies of the final Report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture, presented during last autumn, are now obtainable, and that the type was actually broken up before the 864 meeting of Parliament; if so, who was responsible for such a proceeding; and will steps be at once taken for placing an adequate number of copies within the reach of the agricultural community and the public generally upon the same terms as prevailed with regard to the original issue?
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. R. W. HANBURY,) PrestonIt is the case that no copies of the Report are obtainable at present. The supply was adequate to meet ordinary demands, but it was exhausted by a large and unforeseen requisition from one of the Government Departments. There would not, under ordinary circumstances, have been any difficulty about replenishing the stock; but in this case, owing to the contract with the printer having expired, the Stationery Office had no further claim upon the type which was found to have been broken up. I have given instructions for the Report to be reprinted with a view to its issue to the public on the same terms as before.