§ SIR JOHN COLOMB (Great Yarmouth)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether it can be arranged that an authorised report of his speech on 11th instant, as President of the Committee of Imperial Defence, shall be 773 issued to Members of both Houses of Parliament, and of the Indian and Colonial Governments; and also circulated in all naval and military commands for purposes of general information.
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR, Manchester, E.)If my hon. friend's suggestion is that the report of my speech should be made into a printed document and be published and circulated at the public expense, I think that would be a novel and not a good practice to set up. I believe that long custom authorises that procedure in the case of the financial statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but, on the whole, we should do well to confine our procedure to that case and not extend it If I am able to revise the speech I shall be glad to give a copy to any one who takes an interest in the subject.