Bisbee daily review., 1915-08-15
WASTE WILL
Be INVESTIGATED BY
ASQUITH COMMITTEE
One Of the First Men to Testify
Before 1t viii Be A. B. Mark
ham, Noted as Desiring Econ
omy in Expenditures.

LONDON, Aug. 14.-One of the first
witnesses who will ask for a hearing
before Premier Asuuith's new com.
mittee 10 inquire into the possibility
of effecting economies in the manage.
ment of the British governments az
fairs, is Sir. A. b. Markham, Member
of Parliament for Nottinghamshire.
For several years. both in and out of
the House of Commons, he has advo-
Gated the necessity Of a thorough su-
peryision of the expenditure Of every
branch of government activity. Here
is what he will tell the committee, as
outlined in an interview:
There is fearful waste going on in
almost every department of the gov
eminent, but most of all, l think, in
the War Office. The waste there is
primarily due to the system Of leav.
ing our great war organization in the
hands Of half-pay officers. We do not
encourage young men; they are snub-
bed by their older superiors whenever
they suggest a new business PROPOSE
ton, and all their initiative is killed.
Every tap is running to waste, for
in almost every case the wrong man
has control of the tap. In Germany
the spending departments were given
over to bushes men at the beginning
Of the war. We ought to have done
the same. We have tried to work
with a system which may have done
well enough for peace time, but which
is useless now. Instead of putting
the colossal arrangements into the
hands Of experienced business men,
the War Office called up retired offic-
ers from all parts of the ~country-men
who, however keen, could not possibly
be expected to understand the intrica-
cies Of the various organizations nee
esary.
1T is simply a scandal the way food
is being wasted. Take meat. A man
is allowed one and a quarter pounds
Of meat daily. It is impossible to eat
so much meat. The result is a guam
tity is thrown away or sold.
Another shameful waste OF money
is taking place in billeting. Hundreds
of huts, to my knowledge, have been
empty for several months because they
are not fit to live in. This means that
/, thousands of men arch illeted at us.
Cd. per week when they ought to be
? living in huts for which we paid TO
be comfortable and draught and rain
3 proof.
The greatest scandal Of the whole
lot has been taking place in the buy.
2 ing Of horses. / know of cases where
horses have been bought by the War
Office authorities, sent to camp, and
4 rejected as unfit. They were then sold
at an auction, bought again by dealers.
3 sent to the country, and bought again
by the War Office authorities. A
brand is nov being used, / am told, on
? the quarters Of the horses, but hither
? to the horses were branded on the
hoofs, l believe, at any rate, some
where where the dealers could simply
rasp the brand off.
Take the railways as an instance
4 They certainly are under government
A control, but they are managed by bust
s men who meet, | understand ever
day.
81 know for a fact, that if you want
a sixpenny rubber stamp in a certain
2 government military office you have
2 to get the initials of men in eight diff
4 ferent departments.
8 Another great waste OF the peoples
money is in coal. Our great railway
companies alone consume 10000 tons
. Of coal per day. They are payinl
something like Dos a ton for it. The
4 government having guaranteed the
dividends Of the railway companies
4 the money Of this extra cost comes ouI
2 Of the peoples pockets.