MINISTRY OF MUNITIONS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 181, 27 April 1921, Page 5

MINISTRY OF MUNITIONS

INQUIRY INTO CHARGES AGAINST

OFFICIALS.

(Rec. April 26, 5.5 p.m.) London, April 26.

At the opening sitting of the Munitions Inquiry Committee Captain Loeeby, the member of tho House of Commons who originated the charges, called two witnesses, formerly accountants in the Ministry of Munitions, who gave evidence that E. J. Sutton, who occupied an important position in thp Ministry, instructed a meeting of thirty members of tho staff to destroy documents called working papers, for the purpose of preventing audit by officials nosing too deeply into the accounts. The witnesses thought that no papers were destroyed, as tho staff feared that the consequences* might be serious to themselves.

During the cross-examination it was suggested that the alleged instructions wdro merely a jocular remark during a discussion on the necessity of expediting the liquidation of the Ministry’s accounts, and that the witnesses were actuated by resentment in conseqeunco of their subsequent discharge owing to retrenchment. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. [Mr. Bonar Law, in tho House of Commons, consented to a committee of inquiry under a Judge to investigate allegations against certain officials of the Ministry of Munitions, including a high-placed official, who ordered the destruction of documents relating to contracts in order to prevent the auditors’ inspection. In one instance it was aL leged *£lB,ooo was paid to a contractor, but the solo voucher discoverable was for *£6ooo.]