§ SIR ERSKINE PERRYsaid, he wished to ask the right hon. President of the Board of Control whether, in Her Majesty's Commissions granting military rank to officers in the service of the East India Company, the words "in the East Indies only" were in future to be omitted; or, whether it was merely intended, under the order which appeared in The Gazette of Tuesday the 1st day of May, to grant social rank and precedence, and not general military rank.
MR. VERNON SMITHsaid, the hon. Gentleman, had not quoted quite correctly, the words now used in the Royal Commissions given to officers in the service of the East India Company. The words were, not "in the East Indies only," but "in the East Indies," the word "only" having been omitted by the Duke of Wellington in 1842 for a special object, and in 1854, from the general brevet, by Lord Hardinge. Since the issue of the memorandum, Lord Hardinge had sent written instructions to Sir William Gomm, directing that the words "and honorary rank in all parts of 184 the world" should be inserted in all future Commissions. The intention of the memorandum published in The Gazette was, that wherever officers of the East India Company's service came in contact with those of Her Majesty's service, their respective rank should be settled, not by their belonging to the East India Company's service or to Her Majesty's service, but by the title and date of their Commissions; and he thought the effect would be to facilitate the employment of officers wherever their services were required, while it would by no means fetter the discretion of the Commander in Chief, under the guidance of the Government, with respect to the appointment to commands in all parts of the world of those officers who were considered most eligible, whether they belonged to Her Majesty's service or to the Company's service.