CAPTAIN LEICESTER VERNONasked if it were true that Colonel Harness, Deputy Inspector General of Fortifications, had been removed from that military office, in consequence of departmental misunderstanding with the Chief of the Civil Staff of the Ordnance?
§ MR. MONSELLI regret to state that the line Colonel Harness thought proper to adopt with reference to myself in the discharge of his civil duties as Deputy Inspector General of Fortifications has induced my noble Friend, Lord Panmure, to consider that it was not for the interest of the public service that Colonel Harness should continue to hold that office. It is nevertheless only just to Colonel Harness that I should add, that both Lord Panmure and myself entertain the highest opinion of his ability as a military engineer, and my noble Friend has, in consequence, recommended to the Commander in Chief to appoint him to one of the most important offices in the service, namely, the command of the Royal Engineers at Malta.
§ MR. MONSELLsaid, that was not a question that came under his cognisance; but he could assure the hon. and gallant Officer that no point of etiquette of that sort would in any case be allowed to stand 278 in the way of the appointment of the most able men to fill military offices of high responsibility and trust.