The most important of the other witnesses was Lord Milner,
who gave a clear and interesting explanation of the repatriation system which he inaugurated, and its relation to the Army. The understanding with Lord Kitchener was that the Repatriation Department should take over at once all that it required, and should have first call upon the remainder. But there were many things in the Army stock which it did not require, and many matters on which at first it could not frame estimates. Food-supplies were one, which depended entirely on the nature of the first harvest. The only thing taken over wholesale was transport, the price of which was settled by a Committee at home. Since the country paid the cost of repatriation, it was impossible for him, as trustee for the country's interests, to consent to any arrangement by which he bought what he did not need. The system suggested by the Butler Committee was therefore wholly impracticable. The total sum paid to Army funds was 23,357,000, and if Lord Kitchener had had his price it would have been about 25,000,000. The Chairman announced at the close that the Commission would adjourn till October.
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