§ MR. FIELDTo ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representative of the Stationary office, whether he is aware that the work of many of the Royal Commissions now sitting is delayed, and expense to the country is caused, through the inability of Messrs. Wyman and Sons, the contractors for Government printing, to complete the printing orders of the Commissions within a period of time which other printers in London would find sufficient; whether he is aware that the delays have been more frequent since the contractors have done the printing of the Commissions' work at Reading; 343 whether the contract contained any condition that the Government printing should be done in London, where the London trade union rates prevail, rather than in the country, where the rates are believed to be lower; and, if so, whether the condition as to printing in London can be enforced in order to prevent, as far as possible, the delays complained of.
(Answered by Mr. McKenna.) Two specific complaints have been received from Royal Commissions of delay due to some of the printing being executed at Reading. In one case proofs were delivered in the afternoon of the day instead of in the morning, as requested. In the other, proofs asked for Tuesday were not delivered until Wednesday evening. But such delays are quite as frequent with printers whose work is done entirely in London. As Messrs. Wyman started their works at Reading almost immediately after they secured the contract in 1897, it is not possible to make the comparison suggested. The contract contained no stipulation as to the place at which the work was to be executed.