HC Deb 16 July 1912 vol 41 cc206-7
61. Sir HENRY NORMAN

asked the Postmaster-General when the agreement with the Marconi Company regarding Imperial wireless stations was signed; and when it will be laid upon the Table?

The POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. Herbert Samuel)

The Marconi Company's tender was accepted on 7th March last. The contract itself has not yet been signed, but I hope that the signatures will be affixed, and that I shall be able to lay it on the Table of the House in the course of the next few days.

Sir H. NORMAN

Arising out of that answer, can my right hon. Friend say how it comes about that details could be given in a circular issued by the Marconi Company to its shareholders on 9th March last, and in a speech made by Mr. Marconi at a meeting of his company last week, when he said some time ago it would be inconvenient to give them in this House?

Mr. HERBERT SAMUEL

The facts of the case are these. The Marconi Company put in a tender for the work required in more or less general terms, stating prices and giving a general specification, which was accepted on 7th March, and I do not think, as far as I am aware, the speech to which my hon. Friend refers went beyond the facts included in the tender; but a much more detailed specification and many more elaborate conditions are to be included in the contract itself and were contemplated by the original tender. It would have been unsuitable for me to have laid before the House an incomplete document; it must be the final document itself which is laid on the Table of the House.

Sir H. NORMAN

Is my right hon. Friend not aware that the particulars for which I asked him regarding the duration of the royalties were on both those occasions made public, not in general terms, but in precise details, and that it was those details he told me it would be inconvenient to give to the House?

Mr. HERBERT SAMUEL

I could have given certain details, certainly, but my hon. Friend either asked me in the course of Debate or he put down a question, "What was the period of the royalties, and the number of years?" I could have given him the number of years, but I could not have named the full conditions, and I thought it was inadvisable to give information piecemeal. There was no discourtesy intended to the hon. Gentleman.

Sir HENRY DALZIEL

May I ask whether we may expect them this week, in time for discussion before the House rises, in view of the fact that the arrangement was made in March last?

Mr. HERBERT SAMUEL

Since March there have been many negotiations on points of detail between the Postmaster-General, the War Office, the Treasury, the India Office, and the Colonial Office, which are responsible for the delay that has taken place. I am most anxious the sanction of the House should be given before the House rises for the Summer Recess, and there must be several days' notice before the discussion comes on, and Papers must be laid in good time for Members to make themselves acquainted with them. I am pressing the Department concerned as strongly as I can, and I hope there will only be two or three days elapse before the contract is laid.

Sir H. NORMAN

May I ask my right hon. Friend whether he will see this is not taken as exempted business after Eleven o'clock?

Mr. HERBERT SAMUEL

On that I must consult my hon. Friend the Patronage Secretary.