§ MR. EARPasked the Surveyor General of Ordnance, Whether it may be understood from paragraph 63 of the Second Report of the Public Accounts Committee, that a Stock Valuation Account of Warlike Stores, giving detail of those condemned, broken up, or sold, and the amount realised by their sale, 1903 as well as their value when new, will in future be laid before the House with the Army Estimates; and, whether he will state the value of warlike stores issued annually on payment according to the rates in the "Priced Vocabulary;" and what is the annual amount derived from per-centages charged to purchasers upon the Vocabulary rates?
MR. BRANDSir, the question of the preparation of a stock valuation account is a very difficult one, and is now under the consideration of a small Committee at the War Office. If and when completed the valuation account will be laid before Parliament, either with the Estimates, or as a separate Return. The value of warlike stores issued on repayment according to the rates in the priced vocabulary, including percentages, appears annually in the Army Appropriation Account.