§ * MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether by the conditions of contract for the supply of steam vessel coals to the Government in times of emergency, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty are to be the sole judges of the circumstances constituting anticipated or actual war under which the contractors shall be called upon to supply; whether any coal has ever been 713 taken by the Admiralty under any of such emergency contracts; whether any consideration money is paid for the contract; and if he can indicate the circumstances contemplated in the conditions of the emergency coal contracts under which coal would be taken.
MR. GOSCHENThe reply to the first and second paragraphs is in the affirmative—to the third paragraph in the negative, but the firms who have tendered have always defended the very high prices asked on the grounds that they are completely in the dark as to when they may be called upon to supply. It is proposed before the next contracts are made to revise some of the conditions.
§ * MR. D. A. THOMASMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman—but, of course, I do not press the question if to answer it will be inconsistent with the public interest—whether the Lords Commissioners anticipate military operations are likely to lead to actual war in South Africa?