VISCOUNT LIFFORDsaid, that in consequence of the Danish War and the great success of the Prussian breech-loaders a Committee had been appointed to inquire into the matter. That Committee reported in favour of the breech-loading system; and accordingly an advertisement was issued to the effect that the Secretary of State for War desired to receive communications from gunmakers as to the best means of converting Enfield rifles into breech-loaders on certain specified conditions. In reply to that advertisement fifty specimens of arms were sent in and trials were made of five out of eight which had been selected. In 1639 the end it appeared that only one rifle, that of Mr. Westley Richards, complied with the conditions; but, nevertheless, that of Mr. Snider was chosen. That was not all. Mr. Snider's rifle was sent back to him in order that he might make certain alterations—in which, however, he failed. It was then handed over to two Government officials who, he believed, had succeeded in making it a very perfect arm. He did not doubt that there were obvious reasons for adopting Mr. Snider's rifle; but it was unfair to accord him a privilege denied to the other competitors, and particularly to the inventor of the rifle which alone complied with the conditions. It would, indeed, be difficult to devise a system better calculated to deter gunmakers from competing on future occasions. The noble Viscount concluded by asking, Whether the Under Secretary for War will lay before the House the Correspondence of the leading Gunmakers in reference to the War Office Circular of December, 1865, asking the Reasons which had deterred them from taking any part in the proposed competition for military Breech-loading Small Arms; and, whether any Departmental Officers, having had the benefit of the experience of the various trials of Small Arms made at the Government expense, have taken out patents for Improvements in connection with Small Arms?
LORD DUFFERIN, in reply, said, that inasmuch as the correspondence to which the noble Lord had referred was still under the consideration of the Small Arms Select Committee it would not be advisable at present to lay it before the House. With regard to the second part of the Question, he had to state that it was the fact that officers connected with the War Department, after having devised inventions of considerable importance, had protected those inventions by taking out patents. In the opinion of the noble Lord the Secretary of State for War, that practice was very objectionable. The point had been referred to the Law Officers of the Department, and in all probability it would be found expedient to deal with the matter hereafter when a measure respecting the patent laws generally should be introduced. Clauses might then be inserted to prevent the recurrence of the practice.
§ THE EARL OF HARDWICKEexpressed his pleasure at hearing what had fallen from the noble Lord in reference to these patents. It was very wrong that Officers of the Crown should be permitted to take 1640 advantage of the ingenuity and experiments of private inventors, and be permitted to experimentalise upon those inventions at the expense of the public, and then for their own profit patent the improvements suggested by those experiments.
THE EARL OF LONGFORDsaid, the reply of the noble Lord the Under Secretary for War would hardly be satisfactory to the principal members of the gun trade. Although two years had elapsed since the project was formed of arming the infantry with breech-loaders, scarcely any progress had been made in the matter. The matter was one of a serious character; and he hoped this short conversation might have the effect of procuring for the subject more attention than it had hitherto received.