§ *MR. BOWLES (Lambeth, Norwood)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he can state to the House the grounds upon which, in the Army Order of 1st February last, the chief accountant of a military command in the United Kingdom has been placed upon the staff of the general in charge of administration; whether, in compliance with the terms of that Order, the general in charge of administration now deals directly with the chief, accountant in matters of proposed military expenditure within his command; whether that Order in effect places the chief accountant under the control and orders of the general; and, if so, whether the personal liability of the chief accountant to make good every unauthorised expenditure in the command still subsists.
§ MR. HALDANEThe Army Order (No. 28 of February, 1907) alluded to by the hon. Member was, on the point referred to, altered in the text by a mere slip, and has been since corrected by the errata, at the end of the Army Orders for March which remove the chief accountant from the staff of the general in charge of administration.
§ *MR. BOWLESMay I ask whether the making of this tremendous change in February last and its withdrawal before the end of March is part of the policy which the right hon. Gentleman 1408 has described as that of "clear thinking"?
§ MR. HALDANEThe MSS. is somewhat ambiguous and might have been interpreted in the sense suggested, but there was no intention of making any change without full consideration.