§ MR. CONINGHAMsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for War, Why Staff Surgeon Deodatus William Eaton was dismissed while on sick leave, after eighteen years' service, ten of which were in the East and West Indies, without any previous warning, with no charge assigned, nor with any opportunity of explanation before either a Court of Inquiry or a Court Martial; also, why has not a Court Martial been granted, and why have the applications for it, made by Mr. Eaton, been ignored?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON, in reply, said, it appeared that Mr. Baton was insolvent in 1859 and bankrupt in 1862. It was the usual course, though not the invariable practice, when an officer sought the protection of the Bankruptcy Court, and thereby avoided his pecuniary obligations, to consider such a person unfit to hold the Queen's commission, and he was generally removed. In this case the circumstances that came out before the Bankruptcy Court were brought in the usual manner to the attention of the Secretary of State for War, the late Sir George Lewis, who, after examining all the facts, saw no reason to depart from the usual course. A Court Martial was therefore unnecessary, as all the facts were established in the Bankruptcy Court. Earl De Grey had been applied to, but he saw no reason why Sir George Lewis's order should be reversed.