§ VISCOUNT NEWARK (Notts, Newark)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War why the price of Martini-Henry rifle ammunition (which had been for a number of years £3 2s. per 1,000) was raised last year to £3 13s. 9d., and why the present price of carbine ammunition, which contains a smaller charge, is £4 3s. 3d. per 1,000; and, whether he can see his way to reduce the price of the ammunition, which is a heavy charge upon Volunteer battalions that frequently buy a considerable quantity?
§ *MR. WOODALLThe prices are taken from the vocabulary of stores current at the time. In the edition of 1886, which gave the lower price for Martini-Henry ammunition, the cost was that for which the cartridges were produced in the ordnance factories. The cartridges for which the higher price is quoted in the 1893 edition are obtained almost exclusively from the trade, the 1328 ordnance factories being mainly employed in making cordite ammunition. The higher relative cost of carbine ammunition results from the smaller quantities required.