§ LORD HOTHAMsaid, he rose to ask, on behalf of his right hon. and gallant Friend General Peel, Whether it is true that a demand has recently been made upon an Officer for Stamp Duty upon a Commission as Quartermaster General in the Crimea in 1855, which appointment he ceased to hold in 1856; and whether, in fact, any Commission has ever been made out?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONreplied, that a Circular had been issued in December, 1858, which laid it down that I a stamp duty of thirty shillings should be paid on commissions being gazetted, According to that rule, this stamp duty ought to be collected out of the first additional pay received by the officer. It appeared that in some cases this had been neglected to be done, and therefore it was very probable that in some instances officers might have been recently asked to pay the stamp duty on commissions granted so long ago. With regard to the great delay in making these claims on officers, the noble Lord was probably aware that in consequence of the enormous number of new commissions issued a few years ago, an Act was passed dispensing with the necessity of the Sign Manual being affixed to them, the signature of the Commander-in-Chief being substituted. The arrear was so great it had not been all worked off yet; and, inasmuch as the Commissioners of Inland Revenue actually refused to affix the stamp to commissions till the stamp duty was paid, the charge was now being made against those officers who ought to have paid it at once.