COLONEL DUNNEsaid, he thought that the answer given by the noble Lord the Under Secretary for War was highly satisfactory as to the course the Government had taken in regard to the subject which had been under discussion. There was, however, another subject upon which he wished to obtain some information—namely, with respect to the sum granted for the retirement of the officers of the Royal Engineer Corps and the manner of its application. A sum of £16,000 was voted every year for the retirement of Engineer officers; but since the Vote first appeared in the Estimates the corps had been largely increased by the amalgamation of the army of the East. What he complained of was that the whole of the £16,000 was not applied to the purpose for which it was 1468 voted. Certain Engineer officers accepted civil appointments. When the time arrived at which they would be entitled to military retiring pensions, they were obliged either to give up their civil appointments or to forego their retiring allowances. If they continued to serve the country in a civil capacity, their retiring pensions as Engineer officers were retained; and, for his own part, he did not know whether the money was returned to the Exchequer, or applied to some other purpose. All he knew was, that to that extent the sum voted by Parliament for the benefit of the Engineers was misapplied. The Commander-in Chief had endeavoured to obtain justice for the Engineer officers, but in vain; and hence the necessity for calling public attention to the subject.
MR. PEELsaid, there was a War Office warrant of 1858, which granted £48,000 for pensions to officers of the Artillery and Engineer corps, £32,000 for the Artillery, and £16,000 for the Engineers. The latter sum was to be divided between the officers of different ranks in the Engineers. The general officers were allowed to retire on full pay provided they had a prospect of the command of a battalion. Now, those general officers made a sacrifice when they consented to retire on the full pay list. Some of these retired full-pay officers were found available for civil service, and of course, when so employed by the Government, it was not possible that they should receive both their military full pay and their civil salaries. Consequently, a certain portion of the amount granted for the retired full-pay list was undrawn. The hon. and gallant Member did not wish to deprive the Government of the privilege of employing Engineer officers in civil situations in cases where they were likely to render service to the country. What he wanted was that the military full pay of officers engaged in civil employments should be assigned to other officers of the Engineers.
COLONEL DUNNEsaid, he did not refer to the full pay, but the undrawn retiring pensions, which were allowed to accumulate, instead of being distributed amongst the other officers. His object was that no part of the £16,000 voted by that House for Engineers should be intercepted because some of those officers took employment in the civil service.
CAPTAIN JERVISsaid, the complaint was that a certain sum was voted by Parliament 1469 to be applied in certain proportions so as to produce the greatest number of retirements among the Engineer officers, and thus prevent very old officers occupying the places of young and active men who could do the work; but that the Treasury would not allow it to be so expended. Not long since three senior Engineer officers were in civil appointments, when £600 fell vacant. Instead of the next Engineer officer getting this, the Treasury said that some of these three officers might some day retire from civil service; and, until they made up their minds, they would allow no one to have the money. One of these had since died, but still the money was retained. He hoped that the matter would be seriously considered, as the sum actually voted by Parliament was not distributed.