The Report of the Committee appointed last year to inquire
into the organisation of the Manufacturing Departments of the Army has just been issued. The Report states that the Com- mittee consider the weak part of the present system to consist in the want of co-operation between the different factories, the change of the chief officers at the end of five years, and the system of inspection under which the officials pass and inspect the articles which they themselves manufacture. To meet these evils, the Committee recommend union between the depart- ments, permanent heads of the factories, the employment of civilians, and independent inspection, When thus drily stated in official language, the absurdity of taking men away from their posts after five years—about the least time in which they could possibly learn a new and complicated business—and of regarding as inspection the "passing" of arms and war material by those responsible for making them, is hardly made apparent enough. Sorely the fact that these recommendations are neces- sary shows that the manufacture of our naval and military arms and stores has been carried on with the most culpable and dangerous negligence.
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