§ MR. GIBSONasked the Secretary of State for War, If it is true that Lieutenant R. F. Walker, 30th Regiment, died on the 8th of July 1876 in consequence of injuries received in consequence of a fall from his horse whilst acting as A.D.C. to Sir Thomas M'Mahon during a cavalry field-day at Aldershot on the 28th of June 1876; whether the fall was not occasioned by Lieutenant Walker's horse putting his forelegs in a concealed drain without any default on the rider's part; whether the War Office has not declined to pay to Lieutenant Walker the price of his commission; and, whether, under the circumstances of the case, he will make a special recommendation to have the whole or some part of the price of Lieutenant Walker's commission paid to his family?
MR. GATHORNE HARDY, in reply, said, it was unfortunately true that Lieutenant Walker died in consequence of a fall from his horse at Aldershot without any default on his part. The War Office had no power to pay to the family of Lieutenant Walker the price of his commission, and the Army Purchase Commission, acting under an Act of Parliament, had no power to do so. Any special recommendation from him on the subject would, therefore, be useless.