§ COLONEL HUGHES-HALLETT (Rochester)asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether any and what complaints have been received by the War Office, during the last five years, from General Officers commanding in the presence of the enemy, as to the quality of the field or mountain guns, or their carriages, lights, or ammunition, as supplied to the troops under their command; whether any and what complaints have been made, during the same period, to the Civil Department of the War Office by the Military Departments of the same Office; and, whether, in each case, if any such complaints have been made, he will lay them upon the Table?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster)Yes, Sir; complaints have been made by General Officers, in the course of the last five years, on the points mentioned by the hon. and gallant Member. General Officers are invited, and required, to make these complaints, which are examined by the Department at home, in order that the Service may benefit by experience gained in the field of any possible errors of manufacture or of administration; but I am unable to lay those Papers on the Table, as it would be injurious to the public interests that statements made in the most complete confidence and good faith should be published to the world without fuller explanation than could be given in a Return; and such a publication would have the effect of deterring officers from the full and free expression of their views which the War Office invites.