§ MR. HANBURY (Preston)asked the Surveyor General of the Ordnance, Whether any, and, if any, what, tests have since 1871 been substituted for those which were in use in that year, and which the Cutlass Committee has shown to be wholly useless; when such fresh tests were instituted, who is responsible for them, and whether they are, in the opinion of the Surveyor General, still adequate; whether he will publish the correspondence between the Committee and Major General Alderson, Director of Artillery and Stores, mentioned in the Report; who is responsible for the appointment of the Superintendents of the Enfield Factory, under whose superintendence such mismanagement and inefficiency have been shown to exist; and what guarantee is taken that the officials appointed to posts requiring technical knowledge and experience in manufacture possess such knowledge and experience?
§ THE SURVEYOR GENERAL (Mr. NORTHCOTE) (Exeter)As regards the first three paragraphs of my hon. Friend's Question, if he will wait the production of the evidence taken before the Cutlass Committee, which will, I hope, be issued next week, and which will include a Paper of General Alder-son's, he will find full information. As regards the last two paragraphs the answer is, the Secretary of State for War for the time being, who is responsible to Parliament for the appointments he makes.