THE REWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE.

HC Deb 20 July 1855 vol 139 cc1205-8

MR. WILSON

having moved that the House at its rising do adjourn till Monday next,

COLONEL NORTH

put the question of which he had given notice—Whether those officers who wished to take advantage of the Queen's late warrant for the retirement of officers upon full pay, and obtaining a step in rank, would be permitted to retain the reward for distinguished service which Her Majesty had been graciously pleased to grant to them? In putting this question he begged to say that he did so merely for the information and satisfaction of a large body of gallant gentlemen who, on account of their distinguished services, loyalty, and sufferings, were entitled to the consideration and respect of the House and the Government. He himself was acquainted with the case of one of the officers who were in receipt of the good service pension, and who was as distinguished a soldier as any in the army. He served in the campaign which ended with the battle of Corunna, in which action he was wounded in both knees; in the expedition to Walcheren, and also in the Peninsula, from the year 1810 to the end of the war, taking part in the numerous actions and sieges which distinguished that campaign; he received the gold medal for Toulouse, and the silver war medal with nine clasps. The object of that gallant officer was to take advantage of the new regulation, by which he might retire on the full pay of 17s. a day, with the rank of major general; and of course he was very anxious to know whether the reward which Her Majesty had been pleased to give him for distinguished services, and which amounted to about 100 l. a year, would be withdrawn in the event of his availing himself of the regulation to which he referred. At the battle of Nivelle this gallant officer received a wound which, thirty years ago, when he (Colonel North) was an adjutant in the same regiment, he knew prevented him for days together from attending parade, and which he was concerned to find, from a letter written by the gallant officer within the last few days, still caused him the greatest anxiety and pain; yet strange to say he had been granted no pension in consideration of his receiving that wound. Moreover, although he had nine clasps and a war medal, he had not even been made a Commander of the Bath, and the answer returned by the authorities when he applied for it was, that that Order was not conferred for services so long past. He (Colonel North) trusted that, in honouring the comparatively young soldiers who were now serving in the Crimea, the soldiers who had shown them how to fight and set them such a glorious example would not be forgotten in their old age. He did not put the question from mere curiosity, but for the benefit of a gallant body of officers, and he should avail himself of every opportunity which the rules of the House furnished him with for the purpose of getting a clear and definite answer.

COLONEL DUNNE

was surprised that any hesitation should have existed for one moment in the mind of the Under Secretary for War in answering this question. If an officer received a distinguished service pension he received it for the services he had rendered his country; and in the event of his selling out, or retiring, there could be no reasonable ground whatever for depriving him of the pension.

MR. FREDERICK PEEL

readily acknowledged the right of the hon. and gallant officer to expect as definite an answer as he could give to his question. It was simply whether an officer who had received a reward for distinguished services, out of a grant made by Parliament should continue to receive it upon availing himself of the new regulations and retiring upon full pay; and he regretted that he experienced so much difficulty in satisfying the object the hon. and gallant Gentleman had in view. Much might undoubtedly be said on both sides, and it was not quite so clear a question as the hon. and gallant Gentleman who spoke last supposed. For instance, it was not desirable that the advantages of the full-pay list should be multiplied to such an extent as to bring forward a number of applications from comparatively young officers with which it would be difficult for the War Office to deal. Every officer who retired upon the full-pay list received a step of rank in addition to the full pay of the rank from which he retired; and if, in addition, he were to receive a reward for distinguished service, he feared that claims would be sent in by officers who had received that reward, to retire upon full pay, at a time of life when it would be most undesirable that they should be placed on the retired list. He also thought the rewards should be given in such a manner that they should fall in as soon as possible. At the same time he fully admitted that an officer, who had fairly earned a reward for distinguished service, should be allowed to keep that reward as long as he lived. The question, however, had not yet been decided by the War Office, and he would take care that attention should be immediately given to it, and that a decision should be arrived at as early as circumstances would admit of.

COLONEL KNOX

thought it was hard that a man who had purchased a commission in the army should be obliged, when in ill health, on pain of losing his good service pension, to retain that commission, although, perhaps, he had a starving family at home; and asked whether that regula- tion was to be carried out in the case of officers who had returned from the Crimea? He asked the Clerk of the Ordnance, also, whether any experiments had lately been made with the Enfield rifles, and with what results?

MR. MONSELL

said, that considerable improvements had been made within the last month. The Government had received no official report respecting the failure of the rifles manufactured at Enfield, and used in the Crimea, to which the hon. Gentleman referred.

SIR DE LACY EVANS

said, he was glad to find that the question had not yet seen decided by the Government. He agreed with the hon. Gentleman, that there was something to be said on both sides; but in the present instance the difficulty lay on the side of the Government. The hon. Gentleman said that the objection was lest young and distinguished officers should be induced to apply for leave to retire on full pay. But the hon. Gentleman must know that it was not a matter of course, but, on the contrary, a great favour to be allowed to retire on full pay. None but distinguished officers should be allowed to retire. Was the hon. Gentleman afraid lest the weakness of the Government should induce them to yield to the claims of others? He presumed to think that the hon. Gentleman had not stated all the reasons for leaving his matter still unsettled, and he hoped he would the next time be prepared with a more satisfactory answer.

MR. ELLICE

said, that this subject came before the Army Estimates Committee, and it then appeared that the money allotted to enable the officers to retire was limited in amount.

SIR DE LACY EVANS

observed that the question under discussion was whether the officers who had received the distinguished service pension should be deprived of it.

The Motion for the adjournment of the House at its rising until Monday was agreed to.