§ MR. P. A. TAYLORasked the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether it is true that, in the case of Mr. Belam, late Assistant Paymaster of Her Majesty's Ship "Blanche," who was sentenced by Court Martial to be dismissed his ship on 22nd December 1881, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have increased the punishment awarded by the Court Martial to that of dismissal from Her Majesty's Service, by ordering his name to be removed from the Navy List; whether such increase of sentence is contrary to Section 53, Sub-section 1, of the Naval Discipline Act of 1866; whether it was declared illegal in the case of Captain Coffin, R.N. v. Reg.; and, whether officers of the civilian branch of the Navy ranking with Lieutenants, although not entitled to half pay, are, for this reason, liable to removal from Her Majesty's Service, when, in the case of a Lieutenant, such removal would be inapplicable?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANIt is not the case, as implied in my hon. Friend's Question, that the Board of Admiralty increased the punishment awarded by court martial to Mr. Belam, late Assistant Paymaster of the Blanche, for the offence for which he was tried. The Court sentenced him for that offence to be dismissed his ship. The Board of Admiralty found that this was only the last of a series of occasions, extending over some years, on which this officer's conduct had been the subject either of Courts of Inquiry or of complaints from his commanding officer; and, on a review of all the circumstances, they resolved that he could not be employed in Her Majesty's Service again. This decision was arrived at and put in force under the general powers of the Admiralty to remove the name of any officer from the list of Her Majesty's Navy. The case of Captain Coffin, alluded to by my hon. Friend, was altogether different. In that case, which occurred in 1878, the court martial imposed a punishment which it had no legal right to impose; the Admiralty interfered to correct the error; and the Judges, on appeal, reported against the whole proceeding.