§ 80. Mr. W. THORNEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether a firm named Perfect and Company, of 2, Bank Buildings, St. John Street, West Smith-field, and of Royal Liver Buildings, Liverpool, have been contractors to the Admiralty in any shape or form, or have held contracts for meat or food supply for the Admiralty?
§ Dr. MACNAMARASo far as can be traced the firm in question have not held any contracts for meat or food supplies from the Admiralty. I understand that the firm act as War Office agents for supervising the discharge, storage, inspection, and distribution of frozen meat for the troops, and they may therefore have performed somewhat similar services for the Admiralty, in view of the arrangements to which I alluded in my reply to my hon. Friend on Thursday last, under which the requirements of frozen meat for the Army and Navy are provided for jointly.
§ 83. Mr. BRADYasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether samples of the goods wanted by his Department are systematically sent to Irish centres to facilitate Irish manufacturers tendering for contracts; and to what places in Ireland such samples are sent?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAIn addition to sending small samples to each firm invited to tender, larger samples of certain goods are systematically sent to the Belfast Chamber of Commerce to facilitate other Irish manufacturers tendering for the contracts. The samples are sent annually, and sometimes oftener, but are not always sent when purchases recur at short intervals. The goods referred to are as follows: Coal bag and sack cloth, threads, twines, scene painting canvas, damask table linen, linen duck cloth, and linen goods. The following articles were also exhibited at Londonderry and Dublin last autumn in connection with purchases of warm clothing for the Fleet: Socks, stockings, jerseys, comforters, woollen drawers, and gloves. In addition to the foregoing the principal orders placed with Irish firms are for ships and boats, electric fans, paints, clothing, fresh meat, bread and vegetables, flour, pork, timber, and cordage, but in none of these cases is it necessary to send patterns for exhibition.
§ Mr. WATTCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether these lists, both for Ireland and Scotland, are up to date, or whether they refer to the past century?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAI can assure my hon. Friend that all the Admiralty lists are up-to-date.