§ Captain C. CRAIGasked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that the Navy and Army Canteen Board have entered into a contract with German shipowners for the carriage of canteen stores to the Army of Occupation on the Rhine, and that this contract covers several thousands of tons of such stores, which have been, or will be, conveyed to our troops in Germany by German ships, while British shipping is lying idle for want of cargoes; and whether he will arrange that all stores for our troops in Germany will in future be carried by British ships?
§ Lieut.-Colonel STANLEYI am informed that the Navy, Army, and Air Force Institutes have not entered into any contract with German shipowners, but that they employ the services of a British firm. This firm, it is understood, charters German-owned vessels which326W have been specially built for the navigation of the Rhine, and experience has proved that this is the only means whereby the Navy, Army, and Air Force Institutes are enabled to obtain regular weekly shipments direct to Cologne.