§ MR. HAYTERsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether his attention has been called to the Gazette of the 11th instant, in which a Captain of the 97th Regiment is stated to have retired from the Service by the sale of his Commission, the said Officer having actually died, according to the obituary in The Times newspaper of the 1st of this month; and should such notice have 1939 escaped the attention of the Secretary at War, if he will take steps to prevent in future an arrangement prejudicial to the interest of non-purchasing officers, and tending to destroy confidence in the medical certificates required from Officers upon their retirement from the Service by sale of their Commissions?
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONMy answer, Sir, is that although the Gazette did not announce the retirement of the officer until the 11th of June, he applied to be allowed to sell his commission on the 24th of April. From the 24th of April until the 28th or 29th of May was taken up with the usual arrangements with regard to price, and the delay up to the 11th of June arose from circumstances which are unavoidable in those cases where the Royal pleasure has to be taken, and other forms have to be gone through. I have reason to believe that the statement of the hon. Member that the officer died on the 1st of June is correct; but no official notification of that fact had been made either to the War Office or the Horse Guards. I have only to add that, in my opinion, in these purchase cases there should be the most scrupulous adherence to fair play; and therefore I propose that for the future a duly authenticated medical certificate shall accompany each case.