COLONEL NORTHsaid, he rose to ask the Under Secretary of State for War, Under what circumstances certain officers paid now and others are for the future to be called upon to pay Rates and Taxes for occupying Public Buildings which have hitherto been free, and also to move for Returns and Correspondence relating thereto? The hon. and gallant Officer instanced some of the cases to which he referred. He wished to know under what circumstances Sir Edward Blakeney, Sir Alexander Woodford, Colonel Sir J. Wilson, and several other officers who were now occupying apartments in Chelsea Hospital, some of the sitting rooms of which were only sixteen feet by nine, had been called upon to pay rates and taxes for their quarters? One of these officers had been sixty years in the service, had 1762 been wounded a great many times in battles in various parts of the world; in one battle he was wounded seven times, and he had now two bullets in his body. A demand had been made last week on General Hodges, commanding a brigade of cavalry at Aldershot, for his rates. He did not know under what circumstances the demand had been made, but trusted the Government would consent to produce any Returns which might be calculated to throw a light on the subject.
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONsaid, he was sorry that he could not give his hon. and gallant Friend an answer, as he was not aware that the Question would be put that evening. His hon. and gallant Friend had had the notice on the paper for some time, and he expected a private warning from him as to the precise day when it would come on. He could only say now that the question of the payment of rates by persons residing in Government houses was a very complicated one. There were great differences in practice in the different branches of the service, and the rule adopted in the navy did not apply to the army. Last year a Treasury Committee inquired into the matter and gave certain recommendations, which had not yet been carried into effect. Before any measures were taken, the authorities at the War Office and the Admiralty would confer, with a view to the adoption of an uniform system. If the hon. and gallant Member would repeat his Question on some future day, he might perhaps be able to inform him what were the intentions of the Government on the subject.
COLONEL NORTHsaid, he was under the impression that he had given private notice of his Question to his noble Friend, whose courtesy he was bound to acknowledge, when leaving the House one night.