§ MR. MORSE (Wilts, Wilton)To ask the Secretary of State for War what is the meaning of Clause 3 of the form of tender for scavenging, issued for 26th August, 1903, at Tidworth Barracks; is the contractor entitled to be paid the scheduled price on the basis of the number of men for the accommodation of whom the barracks were constructed, or must it be calculated on the number of men actually in the barracks.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Haldane.) Under the contract referred to, the contractor is entitled to receive payment on the number of men in barracks, irrespective of the number the barracks are constructed to hold. Clause 3, which formed part of the contract in force prior to 1903, was inadvertently retained in the new one. If this clause was considered binding, the first part of it would reduce the rate now payable to one-half, a result clearly unacceptable to the contractor. I may add that the schedule of the contract clearly showed that the tender was for the removal of rubbish, etc., at so much per 100 men per month.