MAJOR EVANS CORDON (Tower Hamlets, Stepney)To ask the Secretary 1557 of State for War whether his attention has been called to the criticism of the Committee of Public Accounts on the war expenditure of 1902–3; and whether, in view of the conditions exposed thereby, the recommendations of the War office Reconstitution Committee with regard to military finance in peace time and in the field in time of war, set forth in Part II., Sections 2 and 3, of their Report, have been, or will be, adopted.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Arnold-Forster.) It is proposed to adopt in the main the recommendations of the War Office Reconstitution Committee regarding military finance in peace and war. As regards the Report of the Public Accounts Committee, I must point out that while it alludes to certain defects which it is hoped will be remedied by the changes proposed, many of the criticisms are not directed against the War Office.