§ DR. MACNAMARAI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether any attempt has been made to trace the origin of manufacture of the 50,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition returned from South Africa at the close of the war as unfit; and whether it is proposed to recover the £1,200 per million rounds which is estimated as the cost of remaking the 30,000,000 rounds of this ammunition still in existence.
§ MR. ARNOLD - FORSTERThis ammunition was recovered from the field after issue; it was therefore regarded as unfit, not from any inherent defect in manufacture, but owing to suspicion of possible damage having occurred in course of the operations. No question, therefore, arises of tracing the origin of manufacture. Indeed, it may be assumed that the rounds referred to came from all the various sources of manufacture, Government factories and trade alike.