§ MR. LOCKE KINGsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether there can be any objection to lay upon the Table Copy of the last Report of the Executive Committee of the Patriotic Fund Commission; whether that Report contains a very painful account of the present state of management of that institution; and, whether he is prepared to state the defalcations which have occurred, and the position of the parties who are answerable for them?
§ MR. CARDWELLsaid, in reply, that the Royal Commission on the Patriotic-Fund reported to Her Majesty through the Secretary of State for War, and, as soon as the present investigation was concluded, no doubt the Commission would make a Report, which, if the hon. Member would then move for, he should be perfectly ready to lay upon the table. He understood that the Executive Committee had made a Report to the Commission, which the Commission had referred back to the Executive Committee for further information upon certain points. With regard to the defalcation which it was known had occurred, it had been ascertained to amount to between £200 and £250, and instructions had been given that the clerk, the person suspected, should be prosecuted.