§ 70. Major GLYNasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether, since it has now been disclosed that £850,000 of the canteen funds has been distributed, he will now state to whom, when, and in what sums these payments were made, and upon what policy was the selection of various charities and organisations arrived at; whether he is prepared now to give an assurance that no further payments will be made from this fund until a definite decision has been arrived at and communicated to Parliament by the Government as to purposes to which the canteen funds will be devoted in future?
§ Mr. FORSTERThe details of the grants from canteen funds are too lengthy to be given in an answer to a question, but I will arrange for them to be published in the OFFICIAL REPORT. As the hon. and gallant Member is probably aware, the question of the distribution of the central funds of the Army was the subject of inquiry by Lord Rotherham's Committee, who, in a Report presented to Parliament in November, 1914, recommended that they should be administered
in the interest of the troops on approved objects on a wider scale than could be adopted by officers commanding units.Applications for grants are fully investigated before submission to the Army Council, by whom all grants are authorised. In arriving at their decisions the Council are now guided by the recommendations of a Committee composed of officers and other ranks representing the Armies at home and abroad. Representatives of ex-Service men have recently been added to the Committee. The future management of these funds is under consideration, and I hope an announcement will be made soon, but I am not prepared to agree that all payments shall be held up meanwhile.
§ The following is the statement referred to:
1607| STATEMENT OF GRANTS FROM CANTEEN FUNDS TO 31ST MAY, 1919 | |||||||||||||||
| Grants made. | 1914–1915. | 1916. | 1917. | 1918. | 1919 (to 31st May). | ||||||||||
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | |
| Newspapers, Expeditionary Force, France and Mediterranean | 17,402 | 15 | 0 | — | 15,689 | 0 | 0 | 6,046 | 10 | 4 | 534 | 17 | 1 | ||
| Newspapers, Expeditionary Force, Mesopotamia | — | 229 | 19 | 0 | 600 | 0 | 0 | 232 | 9 | 11 | — | ||||
| Newspapers, Expeditionary Force, Russia | — | — | — | — | 200 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Newspapers, Expeditionary Force, Egypt | — | — | — | — | 510 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Camp Libraries | 2,040 | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 0 | — | ||
| Women's Active Service Club | — | — | — | 2,000 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||||
| Smokes, Soldiers and Sailors | — | 300 | 0 | 0 | 1,200 | 0 | 0 | 1,450 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Canteen Furnishing Fund | — | 50,000 | 0 | 0 | 50,000 | 0 | 0 | — | — | ||||||
| Men's Hospital Fund, Southern Command | 75 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 0 | 56 | 5 | 0 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 0 |
| Men's Hospital Fund, Northern Command | 18 | 15 | 0 | — | 131 | 5 | 0 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Royal Military Benevolent Fund | — | — | 150 | 0 | 0 | — | 100 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| General Officer Commanding Southern Command* | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| General Officer Commanding Northern command* | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| General Officer Commanding Western command* | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| General Officer Commanding Eastern command* | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| General Officer Commanding Irish command* | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| General Officer Commanding Scottish command* | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| General Officer Commanding Aldershot command* | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| General Officer Commanding London District* | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| (for 1918 and 1919) | |||||||||||||||
| Officer Commanding Guernsey District* | — | — | — | — | 100 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Director-General Voluntary Organisations | — | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||
| Union Jack Hostel | 45,000 | 0 | 0 | — | 6,000 | 0 | 0 | — | — | ||||||
| Soldiers' Central Club, Dublin | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| Royal Drummond Institute, Dublin | — | — | 25 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Dr. Barnardo's Homes | — | — | 115 | 0 | 0 | — | — | ||||||
| Royal Imperial Services League | — | — | — | — | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Women's Emergency Canteen | — | — | — | 25 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||
| Royal Patriotic Fund | — | — | — | 250 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||
| Prisoners of War in Holland | — | — | — | 3,500 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||
| Annual Allotments to Foreign Commands | — | — | — | 380 | 0 | 0 | 380 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Queen Alexandra's Field Force Fun | — | — | — | 240 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Scottish Union Jack Club. | — | — | — | 2,500 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||
| Chevrons Club | — | — | — | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||
| Army Children's Home Committee | — | — | — | — | 35,000 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Army Sports Control Board | — | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | 5,500 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Belfast Soldiers' and Sailors' Club | — | — | — | — | 500 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 238th Brigade, Russia | — | — | — | — | 200 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Russian Relief Force | — | — | — | — | 200 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| General Officer Commanding Ireland (Soldiers' Club) | — | — | — | — | 3,000 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Trust Fund for Benefit of Star and Garter Home, Richmond | 100,000 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| Fund for Supplying Bovril for Troops | — | 525 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | ||||||
| Recreational Grant | — | 8,000 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 0 | 50,000 | 0 | 0 | 100,000 | 0 | 0 |
| Recreational Grant, Italy | — | — | — | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||
| Recreational Grant, Salonika | — | — | — | 3,850 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||
| Recreational Grant, Egypt | — | — | — | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||
| Recreational Grant, Mesopotamia | — | — | — | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||
| Recreational Grant, Constantinople | — | — | — | — | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Army Compassionate Fund | — | — | 4,000 | 0 | 0 | — | — | ||||||
| Hospital for Officers, Royal Air Force | — | — | 2,000 | 0 | 0 | — | — | ||||||
| Christmas Puddings for Troops | — | — | 37,000 | 0 | 0 | 65,174 | 0 | 0 | 57,616 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Luxury Parcels for Prisoners of War | — | — | — | 25,000 | 0 | 0 | 19,000 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Prisoners of War from Mesopotamia | — | — | — | 400 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||||
| Literature for Troops | — | — | — | 29,054 | 0 | 0 | 29,547 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Housing Association for Officers' Families | — | — | — | — | 10,000 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Gramophones for Troops in Russia | — | — | — | — | 974 | 17 | 0 | ||||||
| Divisional Canteens, & | — | — | — | — | 10,065 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| * To meet local claims. |