The House of Commons on Friday, February 25th, criticized very
severely a further Supplementary Estimate of £485,000 presented by the Office of Works for the accommodation of various departments. Objection was taken in particular to an expenditure of £185,000 on a Manchester warehouse for the Stationery Office, which is suspected of desiring to set up large and costly Government printing works. Mr. Baldwin, for the Treasury, denied the imputation, and Sir Alfred Mond, for the Office of Works, said that by acquiring permanent premises the departments would save a good deal in rent. The House, however, remained unoonvinced. Mr. Chamberlain complained that the House, on the previous day, had not supported the Government in resisting the proposal to increase the unemploy- ment allowance. He expressed his readiness to set np an Estimates Committee, in place of the National Expenditure Committee, and to consult the House as to the powers which should be conferred on the Committee. When a division was called in a thin House, 88 members supported the Government
and 78 voted against them. The small majority was a sign of the strong feeling against the increasing expenditure of depart- ments which are not under proper Treasury control.
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