MR. T. F. RICHARDSI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether, in consequence of the change in Army boot contracts, whereby the contractor is allowed to close some portion of the uppers by machine, which has hitherto been closed by hand, the contractor has made allowance by receiving a much less price per pair than formerly; and, if so, can he state the amount thus saved?
§ MR. HALDANEAs an experiment tenders were called for last year on a specification requiring hand closing only. It was found that in some cases this requirement could not be complied with, and the experiment was dropped in those cases, and has since been dropped altogether. The question of requiring any rebate is under consideration.