public money went far beyond the immediate departments concerned. It
went down into every factory, and the general effect was a scale of
national extravagance from which we should recover after the War only
with the greatest difficulty."

We shall not recover at all except by immediate, determined and, above
all, methodical action. Small economies, as Mr. Gladstone long ago
pointed out, are not to be despised. It is no doubt right to put up
notices in Government offices not to put coal on the fire after three
o'clock, but these savings will not go far when half a million can be
thrown away on the bogs and rocks round Loch Doon with no useful result
of any kind, and yet nobody seems to be made responsible for this waste,
nor can anyone say why it was allowed. We hear again and again of
improvident contracts and extravagant purchases, and also of absurd cost
incurred in supervising minute details. Why cannot clear general
authority to act on the spot in certain matters be given to some
responsible person, instead of instituting a system of checks which
often cause great delay as well as expense? A water pipe at a camp wants
some slight repair, costing less than half a sovereign. No one there has
authority to give an order, a well-paid official must be sent a day's
journey to inspect, and incurs expenses far exceeding the cost of the
work to be done. Why is good agricultural land taken for a site when
there is plenty of land near which is waste or of little value? Why does
a well-known firm which has a telephone and a post-bag think it worth
while to pay £15,000 for an introduction to a Government Department? Why
have we heard again and again of prices paid for goods greatly in excess
of the price for which they could be obtained from well-established
firms in the trade? Such instances could be multiplied, but enough has
come to light publicly, and been proved, to show how essential it is to
have some authority to deal with such matters and stop the leakage