§ Mr. NANNETTIasked the Secretary to the Treasury (1) whether he is aware that His Majesty's Stationery Office is endeavouring to control the supply of paper to be used by solicitors for probate engrossment in Ireland; and whether, with the view to prevent interference with free competition among stationers and in the interests of the public, he will direct the Stationery officers not to interfere as to where solicitors purchase their engrossing 1549 papers, so long as they are in accordance with the Law's requirements; (2) whether, since the recent change from engrossing on parchment to paper, which change was made at the instance of the Treasury and against the protest of the Irish Incorporated Law Society, several firms have laid in stocks of the recognised character of this paper; whether on a recent occasion, when a form was sent in from a private firm to the registrar at Waterford, he wrote to the effect that according to the minute of the judge the paper to be used for engrossment of wills must be purchased at Thom's, as it must bear the imprint of the Government printer, and that he would accept the engrossment in the present case; and whether he will say if such a practice is carried on in London by the Stationery Office officials?
§ Mr. MASTERMANIt was decided in November, 1910, by the Probate Court that all probate forms for use in Ireland should be on loan paper, instead of parchment. It then became necessary, in order to ensure that the paper on which the forms are printed or engrossed should be of the high standard of quality required by the Court, to insist that any official prints of the forms, sold in the ordinary course through the official sale agents, Messrs. E. Ponsonby, Limited, should be accepted by the Probate Court. All recognised booksellers may obtain the forms from the official sale agents on the usual trade terms, namely, 25 per cent. discount from the published selling price. A similar arrangement has been made, in practice for many years, in regard to the corresponding English forms.