HC Deb 26 March 1908 vol 186 cc1559-60
MR. BELLAIRS

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether the Report of Lord Rayleigh's Committee bore out the conclusion of his expert advisers, as stated by him in the debate on 11th June, 1907, that there was no excuse for using mercuric chloride as an antiseptic in cordite, and that the only purpose for which mercuric chloride could be added to cordite was to mask the heat test.

MR. HALDANE

As I have already explained to the House, the investigation of the question of the use of mercury in the manufacture of cordite was not referred to the Conference under the presidency of Lord Rayleigh.

MR. BELLAIRS

asked whether his right hon. friend was aware that the Secretary of State for the Home Department had just said that the Committee unanimously recommended that the blasting explosive which contained mercuric chloride should be destroyed; and was there any inherent difference between cordite and blasting explosives in the matter.

MR. HALDANE

We decided this question for ourselves; we had our own specifications.

VISCOUNT HELMSLEY (Yorkshire, N.R., Thirsk)

Has all the cordite containing mercuric chloride held by the War Office been destroyed?

MR. HALDANE

I imagine so.

LORD R. CECIL (Marylebone, E.)

asked why it was that the cordite belonging to the War Office which contained mercuric chloride had been destroyed on that ground, while cordite belonging to the Admiralty which contained mercuric chloride had not been destroyed on that ground.

MR. HALDANE

said that the War Office had it in their specifications that mercuric chloride and such things were not to be put in, and where they were put in they rejected the cordite. The Question should be put down.

AN HON. MEMBER

Is it not the fact that many experts hold that mercuric chloride adds to rather than detracts from the stability of chloride?

MR. HALDANE

I am not aware of that.

MR. LEA (St. Pancras, E.)

What was the value of the cordite destroyed by the War Office?

MR. HALDANE

asked for notice.