§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty the name of the firm referred to in the Auditor-General's report, dated 31st January 1907, page 199, paragraph 25, as supplying considerable quantities of defective brass quick-firing cartridge cases so that they had to be sold as old brass, and guns from various ships had to be returned for repairs in consequence of damage caused by the defective cartridges; whether any action was taken by the Admiralty in respect of this firm; and what reply was made to the Auditor-General as to the value of the cartridges in question.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) The firm referred to is Messrs. Kynoch, but cartridge cases by other makers have also been withdrawn in some instances. For some years the Admiralty have bought no brass cartridge cases from Messrs. Kynoch, and the damage to guns is not in all instances caused by Messrs. Kynoch's cases. The reply to the Comptroller and Auditor-General is still under consideration.