HC Deb 19 May 1870 vol 201 cc967-8
MR. RAIKES

said, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether it is intended to confirm the acting appointments in the Transport Branch of the Control Department held by thirteen Military Train Officers, viz., three as Commissaries and ten as Deputy Commissaries; whether such confirmation would confer a step of rank upon each Officer, and whether such was the result contemplated by the Government when the Royal Warrant for the Control Department, dated Jan. 1, 1870, was framed, or is it a violation of that Warrant; and, whether these Officers will be eligible for transfer to the Supply Branch; and, if so, whether their previous training and service qualify them to fill posts superior to those departmental Officers who have had experience in their duties, but over whom they would thus take precedence?

COLONEL LOYD LINDSAY

said, he would beg also to ask the right hon. Gentleman, Whether he will inquire into the claims of other Officers senior to the thirteen in question, who would have been glad to have accepted the posts now given to their juniors?

MR. CARDWELL

, in reply, said, that it was intended to confirm these appointments if well reported on at the end of the year's probation. The relative rank of each of these officers would be higher than the substantive rank they held in the Military Train. The result intended was, that the officers, instead of being placed on half-pay, should be transferred with their work and their men to the new corps. The senior officers not volunteering, the juniors obtained the advantage. He believed, therefore, that in what had been done there had been no violation of the Royal Warrant. These officers would, as a rule, be employed in the duties for which their previous training had most qualified them; but would be available for any duties which the public service required from them. With reference to the Question asked by his hon. and gallant Friend (Colonel Loyd Lindsay), he might say that the officers of the Military Train had been liberally treated as respected unattached promotion; but if any case of hardship were brought to his notice, he should certainly think it his duty to inquire into it.