§ MR. DILLON (Mayo, E.)I beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he can now state what prices were paid under various contracts by or on behalf of the War Office for horses in South America during the last two years.
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE WAR OFFICE (Lord STANLEY, Lancashire, Westhoughton)No, Sir. The result of giving any of these prices would be that in every case the maximum price hitherto paid would become the minimum for any future purchases.
§ MR. DILLONCan the noble Lord explain why it is not found to be objectionable to give the prices of every other country in the world except the Argentine? What is the special difficulty?
§ [No answer was returned.]