§ 15 and 16. Brigadier-General SPEARSasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office (1) if he will give the names of the officers in receipt of grants from the Distinguished and Meritorious Service Fund; and the amount of the grant in each case;
(2) what would be the annual cost of publishing in the Army Estimates the names of the officers receiving grants from the Distinguished and Meritorious Service Fund; and what was the cost of doing so in 1914?
§ Mr. COOPERThe list of rewards to officers was removed from Estimates in 1925 at the same time as the list of rewards to Warrant Officers and Non-Com-missioned Officers and Victoria Cross annuitants. This was done as a measure of economy both in printing costs and in clerical labour. I cannot put an exact figure on these costs, but I should be unwilling to restore them, and I would ask my hon. and gallant Friend to note that the rewards to officers are now confined to those with limited means which provides an additional reason for not making them public.