WASTEFUL EXPENDITURE

Hokitika Guardian, 13 March 1918, Page 3

WASTEFUL EXPENDITURE

BY MINISTRY OF MUNITIONS. WASTE OF MILLIONS. Received, th.s day at 8.45 a.m. LONDON, March 12. A severe indictment of the Ministry of Munitions is a feature of the report of the Committee on National Expenditure. The Ministry erected national factories valued at £66.000,000 and granted private firms £16,000,000 to meet capital expenditure. Ine Ministry’s officers are the only security the taxpayer has that these enormous sums are wisely spent. £3,000,000 were saved in cordite alone by a reduction in price, after accountants had investigated the cost. Similar investigations resulted in n saving of £35,000,000 in the cost of gun ammunition, during the two years ending September, 1917, compared with tho first year of the war In another cases a contract for gun equipments was £7,750,000, which was reduced by £2,000,000, after the Government accountants had investigated the contract.

A FURTHER EXAMPLE. (Received This Dav at 10.15. i m A LONDON, March 12. Another company had an engineering contract for £4.000,000 sterling, and made a profit of £1,300,000, and then offered a considerable rebate for a further order, and made a second profit of half a million. The firm refused any arrangements depending on an investigation of its books. The Committee propose to check this profligacy by effective control, costing and fixing the rates of profit, and strengthening the authority of the Finance Department.