§ Mr. Burkeasked the Secretary of State for War whether he will state the number of firms that have received contracts for the supply of cloth, and their names; and how many of them have no connection with the actual manufacture and are consequently receiving a commission which might have been avoided?
§ Sir V. WarrenderThere are many different kinds of cloth required for the Army, and orders have recently been placed with hundreds of firms. If, however, the hon. Member has any particular cloth in mind and would care to send me details, I shall be pleased to send him a list of the firms with whom orders have been placed.
As regards the second part of the question, the great majority of contracts for cloth are placed with actual manufacturers; in the few cases in the cotton piece goods trade where merchants are invited to tender, this practice is in accordance with the custom of the trade and all tenderings are competitive.