COLONEL NORTHsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, What course is proposed to be taken with regard to the super sessions of the Colonels of the Queen's Army by those of the late East India Company's Army?
MR. CARD WELLSir, the House is aware that when the two Armies were united the relative position of officers promoted from the rank of Colonel to that of Major General was defined by a Royal Warrant, called the Warrant of 1862. After the publication of that Warrant, it was regarded by the Indian officers as unjust to them, and at variance with the Parliamentary guarantee which had been given them in two Acts of Parliament,—the Act of 1858, which vested the government of India in the Crown, and the Act of 1860, which provided for the union of the two Armies. Discussion, consequently, arose in this House, and eventually a Royal Commission was appointed, of which the late Lord Cranworth was Chairman, and the right hon. Member for the county of Oxford was one of the Members. In consequence of the Report of that Commission, the Warrant of 1862 was cancelled, and a new Warrant—the Warrant of 1864—was sanctioned in its place. Under the Warrant of 1864 it has been found that officers of junior rank as Colonels in the Indian Army take precedence as Majors General of many who were their seniors as Colonels. In consequence of the grievance felt by the officers of the British Army, my right hon. Friend (Sir J. Pakington) who preceded me as Secretary of State for War appointed a Departmental Committee to examine the case. The Report of that Committee has been laid on the Table. Among its recommendations was a proposal that forty-five Colonels should be immediately promoted to be Generals, at the cost of nearly £12,000 a year to the British Treasury. I could not concur in the proposal, and was unable to recom- 1889 mend it to the Treasury. A great deal of correspondence has passed on the subject between the hon. and gallant Gentleman and myself, and, now, with the consent of my noble Friend the Secretary of State for India, we propose to appoint another Committee, of whom one member shall be an eminent lawyer, and the other members shall be officers of the two services of too high a rank to be themselves personally interested in the case. The reference to them will consist of one single point—namely, the proper relative position of the officers of the two services, and they will have no power to make any proposals which involve a charge upon the Treasury. My noble Friend (the Duke of Argyll) has undertaken that the Indian Government shall not make any more promotions pending this inquiry.
COLONEL NORTHsaid, he should withdraw the Notice he had placed on the Paper upon this subject till the Committee had reported.