CAPTAIN LEICESTER VERNONsaid, he rose to ask the hon. Under-Secretary for War whether it was intended as a rule of promotion in the Scientific Corps of the army, that no subaltern officer, however he might have distinguished himself in that rank, could be advanced to a brevet majority until he should have again subsequently distinguished himself in the rank of captain? and to call attention to the inexpediency of such a regulation. No such rule as that prevailed in the line, in which branch of the service a lieutenant or ensign who distinguished himself might at once be promoted to substantive rank, either in his own or in some other regiment. The operation of the rule would prevent the Engineer officers who had distinguished themselves before Sebastopol from receiving that promotion to which they were fairly entitled.
§ MR. FREDERICK PEELsaid, in reply to the question respecting Sandhurst College, which had been put by the hon. Member for Richmond (Mr. Rich), he must state that the Estimate laid on the table only covered nine months of the year, and favoured the inference that the cost of each cadet was £100, and not £75 a year, as the hon. Member for 272 Richmond seemed to suppose. It was possible that £125 per annum was in excess of the sum actually incurred in the education of a cadet, and he was not aware that there was any intention to lessen the charge; but, if it could be shown that the receipts of the college were in excess of the expenditure, it might be well to consider the propriety of effecting a proportionate reduction in the sums payable by the pupils. In answer to the question of the hon. and gallant Member for Chatham (Captain L. Vernon), it should be stated that in no branch of the service was there a rule preventing an officer who had distinguished himself as a subaltern from receiving, after he had been made a captain, a step of military rank in recognition of services rendered before he had been promoted to his captaincy. He had himself known a case where a subaltern of artillery had, on becoming a captain, been rewarded with brevet rank for his services while a subaltern. It was not desirable, however, that there should be any positive regulation on the subject, for, if there were, services rendered many years previously might be thought to constitute a claim to brevet promotion. It was his belief that the scientific corps was in no worse position as regarded the matter than any other branch of the service.
§ MR. H. BAILLIEsaid, he thought the answer of the hon. Under Secretary for War, with regard to Sandhurst College, was very unsatisfactory. It was a notorious fact that the sons of civilians were charged double the amount necessary for educating them, for they could not be maintained at the college for less than £200 a year. That large sum practically excluded the sons of men who were not in very affluent circumstances; and if additional charges were necessary to maintain the college, they should be borne by the State, and not charged to the sons of civilians, in order that the sons of officers might be educated almost gratuitously. He hoped the subject would be taken into consideration by the Government, as it was one of great importance, and he was sure it would not be satisfactory to the public if the college were maintained on its present footing.