§ SIR JOSEPH LAWRENCE (Monmouth Boroughs)To ask the Secretary of State for India whether contracts have recently been let for the supply of locomotives and carriages required by the Bombay and Baroda and East India Railway Companies to a firm or firms in Hungary; and, if so, will he state the differences in the amounts of the tenders of the different firms, English and Foreign: and whether the terms and conditions in the specifications were uniform in all particulars.
(Answer). The hon. Member is no doubt aware that the Indian Railway Boards in matters of this kind act as they think best for the interests of their 241 undertaking, without direct reference to the Secretary of State. I expect to receive information on the subject of these contracts before long, but at present I am unable to give the facts for which the hon. Member asks.— (India Office.)