The Commission sat again on Wednesday, and received the evidence
of Colonel Dunne, the Assistant-Quartermaster- General at the War Office during the period under review. As against Lord Stanley, he maintained that the Returns which it was the business of F4 to secure would not have given any real indication of the existing mischief. They were not Secre- tary of State's Returns, but departmental Returns ordered and cancelled by himself. He described in great detail the system of disposing of surplus stores and making local contracts, which was initiated with the sanction of General Lyttelton. It was believed by the War Office that the supplies sold would be absorbed by the country, and that the contractors would have to import fresh supplies to fulfil their contracts. It did not occur to them at the time that there was any probability of the "dual system." Much light was cast by his evidence on the War Office procedure. It was not the undivided duty of any department to supervise sales and purchases. "There were three branches, and it was not the sole responsibility of any one of them to look after them : it was all three combined."
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