§ MR. SINCLAIR AYTOUNsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether, in carrying out the proposal to give twenty-five unattached Lieutenant Colonelcies, fifty Majorities, and one hundred Captaincies, as mentioned in his Speech on the Estimates, to meet the claims of Officers and stimulate the rapidity of the absorption of the reduction of the Army, it may be understood that it is intended to give such promotion according to length of service from the date of first entering into the service, in conformity with the precedent established in 1866, when Parliament sanctioned a similar distribution of a certain number of unattached Commissions?
§ MR. CARDWELLSir, it is the intention of the Government to pursue the same course that was pursued on a similar occasion in 1866, which is, that his Royal Highness the Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief considers the professional claims of the several officers and recommends them for the approval of the Secretary of State accordingly.