Mr. David Adamsasked the Secretary of State for War whether, to enable 1914W promising cadets from the ranks to sustain the financial responsibilities of officers, he will consider advising commanding officers to abandon the chit system in messes in regard to the payment of drink and tobacco?
§ Captain MargessonI do not consider that the chit system in messes leads to an undue expenditure by officers. In fact without it commanding officers would have great difficulty in exercising any sort of supervision over the expenditure of officers in mess. Moreover the substitution of a system of immediate cash payment would cause considerable inconvenience in a number of ways, such as the necessity for holding substantial sums in cash and a less simple accounting system.