§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)To ask the Secretary of State for War 1134 whether he has received a newspaper report and a letter anent the supply of foreign meat to the Army and Navy; and whether he proposes to take any steps in the matter with a view of giving the Colonists and the Home producers a larger share of the Army meat custom.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) Nothing is known in this Department of the newspaper report referred to; but, as I have informed the House on several occasions, I do not propose' to make any alteration in the conditions of contract for the supply of meat to the Army.
§ MR. FIELDTo ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he has received any communication and newspaper report anent the supply of foreign meat to the Army and Navy from the Secretary of the Irish Cattle Traders and Stock Owners Association; and whether he proposes to take any steps in the matter with a view of giving the Colonists and the Home producers a larger share of the Navy meat custom.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) The Answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative, and a reply has been sent to the association in the usual course. As regards the second part of the Question, a very large proportion of the fresh meat supplied to His Majesty's ships at Home ports is actually home-bred. In the few cases where frozen mutton may be drawn at the option of the men, it is stipulated to be Australian or New Zealand, and there has been no alteration for a long time past in the conditions of the contracts. The letter from the association appears, therefore, to have been written under a misapprehension, and it is not considered that it is necessary for the Admiralty to take any steps in the matter.