§ MR. LESLIEbegged to put the following question to the Under Secretary for War—that as medical men, civilians, were now being sent out by the Government at fabulous salaries, he begged to ask—
§ MR. SPEAKERsaid, the hon. Gentleman in putting a question must not state an opinion, or use such words as "fabulous" salaries, and those words must be struck out of the question.
§ MR. LESLIEthen begged to ask whether it was the intention of the Government to raise the salaries of the army surgeons that are now employed in the army in the East, and hospitals at Scutari?
MR. PEELsaid, it was not intended to increase the rates at which the medical men connected with the army in the East were paid. It was true that their daily pay was not so large as that of the civilian medical officers who had been sent out; but it should be recollected that, on the other hand, the army surgeons, when they ceased to be actively employed, received half-pay, which was a privilege that the civil medical men now employed would not have.