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Crown Agents are comparatively small) is satisfied; while the Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Gold Coast have no very serious complaints to make; and, in view of the explanations given by the Crown Agents, there seems to be little or no ground for the larger portion of them.
With regard to the general question of the working of their system, the Crown Agents appear to be The notes making all the improvements they can.
on the preparation of indents which they have drawn up for the use of the Colonies (p. 108-117) ought to help matters a great deal. It would also be of great assistance if more uniformity could be estab- lished in the articles required by Colonial Govern- See p. 153. ments; and I think that certain classes of articles, such as stationery, &c., where differences of pattern, &c., are not of real importance, should be "stan- dardized" by the Crown Agents, and that the Colonies should be pressed to requisition only for these standard articles in future. Printed requisitions could then be prepared by the Crown Agents con- taining lists of these articles, and all risk of errors and misunderstanding would then be reduced to a minimum. Uniformity might also be introduced in other ways. We have now got the same dress and equipment for all the West African military forces, and I thank that we might very well have the same dress and equipment for all our Colonial forces throughout the Tropics, with some slight distin. guishing badges.
A great deal of the trouble experienced by the Crown Agents in complying with requisitions appears to arise from imperfect descriptions of the articles required, and wrong estimates of their cost; and I would suggest that something more might be done in the way of catalogues. The War Office priced Vocabulary of Stores, referred to in para. 14 (at p. 109) of the Notes on the preparation of Indents, contains a list (extending over about 1,500 pages) of every possible article issued by the War Office, with its cost, and there is also an elaborate index. It seems to be worth considering whether a somewhat similar catalogue could not be drawn up by the Crown Agents for other stores or classes of stores, e.g., in the case of stock articles, and revised periodically. This catalogue might be illustrated, and samples of
some of the stores might be sent to the Colonies.
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