§ Mr. COURTHOPEasked the Secretary to the Treasury for what reason the cost of certain departmental committees of the Board of Agriculture, such as the Epizootic Abortion Committee, is placed upon the Vote for Temporary Commissions, Class VII., Vote 1, while others, such as the Swine Fever Committee, are borne upon the Board of Agriculture Vote; and whether the Treasury will in future provide that all such committees be borne upon the Vote for Temporary Commissions?
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§ Mr. HOBHOUSEAt the time of its appointment the operations of the Swine Fever Committee were not expected to last long or to involve much expenditure, and the Treasury accordingly sanctioned the charge against the Vote of the Department, which contained an appropriate sub-head. At a later date, however, the scope of this inquiry became somewhat enlarged, and sanction was given to the charge of all the expenditure (except a small sum borne by the Office of Works) to the Cattle Pleuro-Pneumonia Account. The Epizootic Abortion Committee, on the other hand, was expected to involve lengthy and expensive inquiries which could not conveniently be borne by the Vote for the Department, and its expenses were at the request of the Department accepted as a charge against the Vote for Temporary Commissions. I see no reason to depart from the existing practice as to the incidence of charge in such cases.