MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he can state if any person has been held responsible for the sum of £588, a loss to the Public Service caused by the condemnation of 22,262 lbs. of salt pork, originally delivered at Haul-bowline Yard, and condemned at Devonport, at Gosport, and at Plymouth in 1892–3, prior to the expiration of the two years' warranty given by the contractors; and what steps, if any, have been, or will be, taken to enforce the responsibility?
SIR U. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTHNo person could be held responsible, as the causes which led to the unfitness of the pork for issue, and to the consequent condemnation, could not be definitely ascertained. With the consent of the Treasury the loss was written off as irrecoverable. The Treasury Solicitor was of opinion that the warranty was, under the circumstances, inoperative.