§ SIR HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)To ask the Secretary of State for War if his attention has been directed to the rule established by Mr. Secretary Stanhope, in view of the capital expenditure incurred by the great ordnance firms of Sheffield and Newcastle in response to Government invitation, that two-thirds of the War Office requirements for ordnance should be placed with the trade and one-third with the ordnance factories; and, having regard to the precedents established by successive Secretaries of State, he will undertake himself to abide by the rule.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) The practice laid bown by Mr. Secretary Stanhope was probably a wise one, though it cannot be said to be based on any abstract rule. I may, however, say that 1117 there is not at present any intention of disturbing the practice of the department in this respect.