ADDRESS MOVED. (Hansard, 21 June 1864)

SIR FREDERIC SMITH

said, he rose to move that an humble Address he presented to Her Majesty, for an inquiry into the condition as to pay and allowances of the Regimental Quartermasters, with the view to place those officers, should it seem expedient, on a better footing. He would not enter into minute details at that late hour, but he wished to remind the House that they were as deserving a class as any in Her Majesty's service. Last July 93 he moved for a Correspondence between the quartermasters and the authorities, which showed the vast extent of the duties performed by the quartermasters and their claims on the service. In a regiment of 1,000 men there was but one appointment to which a private might look forward with certainty as raising him to the position of an officer and a gentleman, that of regimental quartermaster. The post of regimental quartermaster must be held by a man who was raised from the ranks, but when he got into possession of the post he found it valueless. He held in his hand the services of 126 quartermasters They had 220 medals between them and clasps without number. Their duties were multifarious. They were storekeepers, bookkeepers, and they kept the accounts of the whole regiment with the exception of the paymasters. If there were a vacancy for adjutant or quartermaster, it was given to the senior staff sergeant. whether he was quartermaster sergeant, or sergeant major. But look at the difference of the two appointments. The adjutant received 8s. 6d. a day; the quartermaster, only 6s. 6d., and was it possible to live and bring up a family on that sum? Of the 126 there were only six unmarried, and upwards of 100 were married at the time of their appointment. Would not the House give those men the means of supporting their wives and children? His brother officers in the House would bear him out when he said that non-commissioned officers were usually taken from the married men, because the married men were the most steady. Those men were responsible for stores in their charge to the amount of £2,500,000; they had no end of books to keep, and if there was any loss they were held accountable. How was it then that the men came to take the appointment? Formerly the appointment was a good one, and the quartermasters hoped to see the day when they would be put upon a fair footing. Formerly the clothing was in the hands of the colonel as a perquisite. He employed the quartermaster and gave him a handsome remuneration. The regimental necessaries were then provided by the quartermaster at the wholesale prices; he retailed them at shop prices, and received the difference between the wholesale and retail. This enabled the quartermaster to save money for his family. In the colonies the quartermaster was worse off by £20 or £30 than the quartermaster sergeant, and that was a 94 state of things which ought not to exist. He did not ask the noble Lord to promise the men a single shilling, but merely to grant an inquiry, and the result he was sure would be to give these poor men what they deserved. He had intended to move for a Royal Commission, but if the noble Lord would grant an inquiry in a modified form he would not push his Motion to a division. He begged to move an humble Address to Her Majesty, praying that She would be graciously pleased to grant an inquiry into the condition, position, pay, and allowances of the Regimental Quartermasters in Her Majesty's service.

THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON

said, it would appear upon investigating the claims of that most deserving class of non-commissioned officers, that the rate of pay which they received, more especially upon first appointment, was extremely low. He did not, however, at all admit that because the adjutants or paymasters received a higher rate of pay the quartermasters also ought to receive it. All that the House and the Government had to look to was that a meritorious class, as the quartermasters were admitted to be, should not be asked to serve for an inadequate remuneration. He had reason to believe that their remuneration was inadequate. The Secretary of State, however, did not think it his duty to come forward with any proposition to that House to raise the pay and allowances of the quartermasters without first making minute inquiry. It seemed to the noble Lord (Earl de Grey) that a competent tribunal might be composed, partly of officers who had a practical acquaintance with the duties the quartermasters had to discharge and a practical knowledge of their position, and partly of gentlemen who should represent the Treasury. Such a Committee would be appointed as soon as possible, and the Government would be prepared to act upon their recommendation. He hoped that statement would be satisfactory.