§ SIR JOHN HAYasked the First Lord of the Admiralty, If instructions have been given to the officers commanding the Royal Marines that when the battalion is formed for field drill the duties of Majors are to be performed by Brevet Majors, without reference to their seniority as Captains of Marines; and, if so, whether it is intended to repeal Section 4, page 229, of the Marine Mutiny Act with reference to rank, and to alter Article 2, page 136, of the Queen's Regulations for the Navy with reference to the Royal Marines; and, if he has obtained the consent of the Secretary of State for War to an alteration in the Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Army, paragraph 27, and the Field Exercise and Evolutions of Infantry, part 3, Battalion General Rule 4, No. 2?
§ MR. GOSCHEN, in reply, said, instructions had been issued to the officers commanding the Royal Marines that when a battalion was formed for field drill the duties of major were to be performed by brevet-majors. The point of seniority was not touched in the instructions, it not being stated that the duties were to be performed either with or without reference to it. The object was to give the Marines, when brigaded with other troops, an opportunity of learning drill, which at present they seldom possessed. The fact that a lieutenant-colonel or an officer of higher rank would command the whole force had been held to obviate the objection with regard to the 4th section of the Marine Mutiny Act.