§ SIR RICHARD PAGET (Somerset, Wells)asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether Officers in the Army, having paid £700 or more in the purchase of their Lieutenancies previous to the Abolition of Purchase in the Army, will be allowed, on retirement from the Service, any advantages in respect of the money so paid; and, whether Officers, having entered the Army since the Abolition of Purchase, and paid nothing for their Commissions, will receive the same retiring allowances as others having paid large sums?
THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN)&c.) (Stirling,This Question was fully answered on August 4, 1881, by my right hon. Friend the present Home Secretary. The suggestion is, I suppose, based on the fact that a purchase captain does in his retired pay receive some compensation for his purchase money; but I would point out that such compensation is given only in respect of the over-regulation sum which the captain could have realized on selling his commission. This averaged from £600 to £700; and if the officer attained higher rank before being pensioned it was held that the increased retired pay of the higher rank included all compensation due to purchase rights. In the case of purchase lieutenants the over-regulation money was only £100 4 on the average, and as they must necessarily be pensioned from a higher rank no question of compensation can arise.