§ SIR JAMES WOODHOUSE (Huddersfield)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War what are the terms of reference to the War Office Committee presided over by Sir William Butler with respect to the South African stores contracts; and will the evidence given before such Committee in due course be laid before Parliament.
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERThe terms of reference were as follows:—(1) To 1013 investigate and report on the terms of contract and other circumstances connected with sales and refunds to contractors in South Africa at the end of the war. (2) To make special inquiry into certain transactions. (3) To report upon the responsibility of those concerned. The Committee is a Departmental one and the evidence given before such a Committee is usually treated as confidential. I am not, therefore, at present in a position to state whether an exception to the usual rule can be made in this particular case.