§ 1. Dr. CHAPPLEasked the President of the Board of Trade whether a contract for the supply of meat to the Army has been given to an Argentine meat trust: and whether he can state its terms?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the WAR OFFICE (Mr. Gwynne)I have been asked to reply. No contract has been placed with an Argentine meat trust, 1839 but a special purchase of Argentine frozen meat to the value of about £30,000 has recently been made from a British firm. The purchase was urgently necessary in order to replace meat unexpectedly drawn by the Navy from Army stores in the Mediterranean. I am satisfied that no other firm could have supplied to time. The case was quite exceptional, and the circumstances are unlikely to recur. With regard to the last part of the question, the conditions of contract were normal and the prices fair and reasonable, but it is the invariable practice to treat contract prices as strictly confidential.