76. Major GREAMEasked the Secretary for War the amount of cloth held in reserve stocks by the War Office; and what steps he proposes to take to put this cloth on the market in order to reduce the cost of civilian clothing?
§ Mr. FORSTERI would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer which I gave yesterday in reply to a question on this subject put by my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline Burghs. I understand that there is some misapprehension as to the meaning of the word "tartan" as applied to cloth for trousers included in the figures which I gave yesterday. I may explain that it is a technical term for a particular material, and has no reference to the colour or colours which the cloth may assume either during or after manufacture. It may surprise my hon. Friend and other Scottish Members, but perhaps it will relieve their anxiety if I point by way of illustration to the trousers I happen to be wearing, which are made of tartan.
§ Mr. FORSTERIt is not the War Office; it is a manufacturer's term.
Major GREAMEAm I to understand from the right hon. Gentleman's, supplementary explanation that his trousers will be placed at the disposal of the Disposal Board?
§ Mr. FORSTERI am afraid that is an impossibility. My hon. and gallant Friend has repeatedly in the course of his distinguished military service worn tartan trousers, though he does not appear to Lave known it.