§ SIR BEVAN EDWARDS (Hythe)I beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that the whole of the details of the Government process of cordite manufacture, and of the special machinery employed at Waltham Abbey, has been published in a paper read by Mr. E. Anderson at the Civil Engineers' Institute; whether Mr. E. Anderson is a son of Sir William Anderson, the Director General of Ordnance Factories; and whether, before this paper was read, the permission of the Admiralty and the military authorities of the War Office was obtained?
THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE WAR OFFICE (Mr. J. POWELL-WILLIAMS,) Birmingham, S.The processes by which cordite is manufactured are not secret. They are known to at least five private manufacturers, and, indeed, were recently disclosed in full detail in an action in the High Court of Justice. There is nothing special or secret in the character of the machinery used at the Ordnance Factories, and similar machinery can readily be obtained from private firms. The gentleman referred to as having read a paper on the subject of cordite is a son of the Director-General. He is not in the service of the Crown, but he voluntarily sought and he obtained the formal approval of the War Office to read the paper, the draft of which was submitted to the military authorities.