§ SIR. J. MACLURE (Lancs., Stretford)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty Whether the contracts for waste for the last few years have been given to the same two or three firms; and whether he is prepared to allow three Members of the House, not interested in the trade, to examine the samples and the deliveries in various 516 dockyards, in order to compare the sample with the actual deliveries, and at the same time to give the names of the contractors and prices charged by each?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. W. E. MACARTNEY, Antrim, S.)The reply to the first paragraph of the Question is, as regards the past three years, in the affirmative, and to the second paragraph in the negative.