COLONEL JERVIS, in rising to call attention to the position of British Officers ordered to proceed to India on Service, said, that about two and a-half years ago a Royal Warrant had been issued, by which captains of Artillery in command of batteries were promoted to the rank of major. It was distinctly stated at the time that this step was taken from motives of expediency, meaning, of course, that it was taken, not for the personal advantage of the officers, but in the interests of the Service. It was further ordered that they should receive pay equivalent to that of major of Infantry. To the surprise of the officers holding this position, however, when the Warrant was proclaimed in India, they were informed that while on the one hand they were to receive permission to hold the rank of major, they were only to receive the pay they had as captains. Frequent complaints had been made by them on the subject, and letters at various times had been addressed to the home authorities, but no answer whatever had been returned. He, therefore, wished to know who was responsible for seeing that British officers, ordered from this country to India, were duly protected in their rights and privileges? What he complained of had not occurred originally under the present Government. Since they had come into office the matter had been re-considered, and for the future these officers would find themselves in the position, and in the receipt of the pay to which they were entitled. He contended, however, that that concession 300 was not sufficient, for there was a certain etiquette which prevailed in all the branches of a profession. A man who had become Q.C. would not like to be employed as a junior counsel, nor the Secretary of State to receive the salary of his chief clerk. It had been stated that these men were in the receipt of certain contract allowances; but the matter had never been gone into by the authorities at the War Office or at the India Office. It was true that there were certain allowances attached to the field batteries and Horse Artillery in India, by means of which they had to carry out a considerable expenditure for the Government. But it was idle for any one to pretend, with the careful supervision of expenditure which there was in India, that if these men were pocketing what they were bound to spend on the public service, it would not have been found out years ago, and that the matter would not have been taken out of their hands altogether. There were about 54 horse and field batteries in India, and 26 garrison batteries. The garrison batteries had got no contingent allowances of any description; the majors simply retained their pay as captains. He maintained that the remedy ought to be made retrospective in its action, and that from the day the Royal Warrant came out, and these men were gazetted, they were as fully entitled when quartered in India to the pay of their majorities as any men in this If that were not so, what security had officers who might be sent out to any part of the world that they would receive the pay of the rank which they held? He thought, moreover, that it would be well if the authority responsible for such matters were more clearly defined, inasmuch as at present these men did not know what their rights were, or to whom to apply for redress when their rights were invaded. They looked now to the Secretary of State for War for protection, and he trusted the right hon. Gentleman would submit to the Law Officers of the Crown the question, whether the men for whom he spoke were not entitled to their full pay from the day when they were gazetted? There was an idea in the War Office that the Secretary of State for India was a sort of Shah, whose orders must be carried out whether right or wrong But he (Colonel Jervis) had always looked upon all Secretaries of State as equal, 301 that they had simply to carry out their duties as Members of the same Government, and that the Government was responsible. He trusted that at length there would be an end to the differences which had existed for 18 years between the Government of India and the officers in that country, and which had caused an infinity of harm. Lord Salisbury, since he had come into office, had done his best to heal some very deep wounds; but what he (Colonel Jervis) wanted to know was this, what were the rules and regulations which applied to these officers, and who were the authorities to whom they were to look in this matter—the Commander-in-Chief at home, the Commander-in-Chief in India, the Secretary of State for India, or the Secretary of State for War?
§ GENERAL SIR GEORGE BALFOURsaid, that he most cordially supported the Motion of the hon. and gallant Member for Harwich and urged that it would be a wise course on the part of the Indian Government to do away with all these petty differences of which these officers complained. No doubt, a bettor system might have been adopted by the War Office than that of promoting all captains who commanded batteries to the rank of major, whereby India was at once exposed to liabilities for augmentations of pay equal to nearly 50 per cent of the amount then drawn, and entailing a considerable charge on the Indian finances; but he agreed with the hon. and gallant Gentleman who had just spoken, that having given increased rank to these officers, it was only wise and prudent to give in India the pay and allowances of that rank. But that change involved a very much larger question as to how far it was right in principle to make great changes in the organization of the Army whereby the finances of India were obliged to bear burdens which need never have been imposed, if India had been allowed to retain its own Army; but now that the change had been enforced, he trusted that the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State for War would see whether the change which had been made could not be carried out without the great additional expense now created. It was not by petty savings, such as the one under consideration, that we could effect any real economy in the expenditure of India, for if money was to be saved, the Government 302 would have to adopt some sensible scheme of re-organization. For instance he would point out that we had now 28 very weak garrison companies of Artillery in India formed into four brigades, which burdened India with an inordinate number of superior officers. He thought that by a slight change in the Garrison Artillery formation, the right hon. Gentleman could do away with half of the garrison batteries by amalgamating the 28 batteries into 14, and then forming these into two brigades, and in that way relieve India from a vast expenditure. The important point to be borne in mind was, that whatever changes were deemed advisable in the organization of the Army, it was in every way most essential to prevent those changes from causing either officers or men to be dissatisfied.
§ COLONEL NORTHsaid, he agreed with some of the observations of the hon. and gallant Gentleman who had just sat down. He did not think anything was to be gained by withholding from officers the pay to which they were justly entitled. Such policy merely bred disaffection, and was productive of bad consequences, without contributing in any way to real economy.
§ MR. STEPHEN CAVEsaid, that this was a question which had been brought last year before the Committee of which he was Chairman. His hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Harwich (Colonel Jervis) would gather from what had fallen from the hon. and gallant General opposite (Sir George Balfour) that a very much larger question than the pay of majors was involved. The hon. and gallant General had frequently brought the subject before the Committee, but it involved questions too wide to be discussed even then. In that Committee, however, this had been laid clown very distinctly—namely, that we in this country ought not to trench on the finances of India without consultation with the Government of India itself. This case of Artillery majors was one which, as his hon. and gallant Friend probably knew, had been the subject of discussion between the War Office and the India Office, and the Secretary for War could not settle it by a stroke of the pen, as it was not a question of English pay, but of pay coming out of the Indian Exchequer. However much inclined they might be, the thing if done at all could 303 only be done after consultation with the Government of India. It was impossible to say more at the present moment on the subject.