This is an important week in the century and a-half
old history of Hansard. In the first place it is being printed for the first time by the rotary system instead of flat-bed—i.e., on whirling cylinders which permit of a much larger print in the same time—and also it is beginning the experiment of publishing a weekly edition, con- taining the full text of the week's daily copies (normally five) in a stiffish cover and, for the present at any rate, without advertisements. This is a very welcome departure. It is true that the weekly Hansard will make rather formidable reading, and with all respect to the elected representatives of the people, it is very rarely that a whole issue, even of the daily Hansard, is worth reading solidly through. But the questions—and the answers, whether evasive or candid—are often instructive and more often entertaining. What is more to the point, the new Hansard will be invaluable to libraries, clubs, schools and similar institutions. The price—Is. 6d. a copy, or £3 a year—is by no means excessive, and at that figure the new venture is expected to pay its way. (It can be ordered from the Stationery Office, Kingsway, W.C. 1.)
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