§ MR. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War, having regard to the fact that the late Captain Blakely, R.A., in February, 1855, took out a patent for the first built-up gun, and that it has been freely asserted in military quarters that the principle of that patent is embodied in the patent which was taken out by Mr. Armstrong in 1858, and assigned to the Government on the 15th January, 1859, will he state on what ground the War Office declines to allow the representatives of the widow of Captain Blakely to have access to the Armstrong patent, seeing that a period of upwards of forty years has elapsed since the latter patent was taken out, and the necessity for its secrecy may be said to have passed; and, in view of the fact that prior to the date of the Armstrong patent Captain Blakely had given Mr. Armstrong access to his patent, and that the Ordnance Committee of February, 1861, found that both the Blakely and the Armstrong gun were similar in construction, will he consider the expediency of employing a War Office expert to com- 1367 pare the two patents, so that Mrs. Blakely's contention that her husband's patent has been infringed may be tested.
§ * MR. WYNDHAMThis matter has been thoroughly considered, and the Secretary of State for War is not prepared to go into it again.