§ MR. ARTHUR HENDERSON (Durham, Barnard Castle)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty if he will state the terms of the Order issued in 1894 as to the sale of obsolete close link and rigging chains; and whether he will undertake to have the Order fully enforced to prevent as far as possible the discarded chains being sold in the markets, thus competing unfairly with the manufacturers and workmen engaged in the chain-making industry.
(Answered by Mr. Pretyman.) I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the 630 Orders issued in 1894 as to the disposal of old chain, from which he will see that they were expressly designed to meet the contingency suggested in the second part of the Question. As stated in my reply of March 28tht, there is no reason for assuming that these instructions are not being properly carried out by the dockyard officers, but their attention is being called to the necessity of exercising special care in this matter.