The Washington times., 1915-08-08
Waste OF BRITISH
CALLED FEARFUL"
Sir A. B. Markham Says There
Is ScandaIous Loss In Every
Branch Of Government.

LONDON. Auv. s.--One Of the first
witnesses who will ask for a hearing
before Premier Asquith's new commit
tee to inquire into the possibility OF
effecting economies in the management
Of the British government affairs Is
Sir A. B. Markham. member OF parlia-
ment for Nottinghamshire.
For several years. both in and out OF
the house Of commons. he has advo-
Gated the necessity of a thorough su-
pervision of the expenditure Of every
branch Of government activity. Here
outlined in IN an MI interview: '' 10
There 10 fearful waste going on In
almost every department. Of the gov
ernment. but, most o fall. think. In
anu.y 1ns war yir @ Sfce The s waste =, there Ter Is
our great war organisation In the hands
OF hAlf-pay officers. We do not encour-
age young men: they are snubbed by
their older superiors whenever they
suggest new business proposition, and
all their initiative 10 killed.
Running To Waste.
Every tap Is running to waste. for
In almost every case tho wrong man
has control Of the tap In Germany
tho spending deartments were given
over to business men at the beginning
Of tho war. We ought to have done
the same. We have tried to work with
a system which may have done we'll
enough for peace time. but which is
useless now. Instead Of putting the
colossal arrangements into the hands
Of experienced business men. the war
''e all parts G'ee Of op8 the count eourrtry"men who.
however keen. could not possibly be
expected to understand the intricacies
Of the various organizations necessary:
1T Is simply a scandal the way food
is allowed one and a quarter pounds OF
meat daily. L is impossible to eat so 20
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 At to live in. This means that
thousands Of men are billtted at LIS. "a
per week. when they ought to. to oe hSo W.
comfortable and draught and rain
proof.
Buying Of Horses.
The greatest scandal In the whole lot
has been taking place in the buying OF
horses. know Of cases where horses
have been bought by the war office au-
thorities. sent to camp. and rejected ms
unfit They were then sold at auction.
bought again by dealers. sent to the
country. and bought again by the war
office authorities. A brand Is now being
used. am tod. on the quarters OF the
horses. but hitherto the horses were
branded on the hoofs. ! believe: at any
rate. somewhere where the dealers could
simply rasp the brand of.
Take the railways as an instance.
They certainly are under Government
control. but they are managed by busi-
ness men who meet. I understand. every
day.
II know for . fact that II you want a
ixpenny rubber stamp in a certain gov
eminent military office you have to ge
the initials Of men in eight different de-
pa rtments.
Another great waste OF the peoples
oney Is In coal. Our great railway COM
pAnies alone consume 1000 tons OF coal
a day. They are paying something
like 3Os. q ton for II. The government
having guaranteed the dividends OF tho
railway companies. the money Of this
extra cost comes out Of the people s
pockets"