§ EARL PERCYasked the Surveyor General of the Ordnance, Whether, prior to the 1st May, 1878, the officers of the Coast Brigade, R.A., had not the right 982 to retire on full pay after thirty years service, in common with the other combatant officers of the Army; whether the Royal Warrant of that date by Article 116 and Article 140 did not for the first time deprive those officers of this privilege, making their retirement depend solely on age, irrespective of length of service; and, whether there is any reason why they should not enjoy the same advantages as the other combatant officers of the Army?
§ LORD EUSTACE CECILPrevious to the issue of the Royal Warrant of the 13th of August, 1877—which is now embodied in the Royal Warrant of the 1st of May, 1878, quoted by my right hon. and noble Friend—officers of the Coast Brigade of the Royal Artillery had not a right to retire on full pay after 30 years' service. Such cases were specially considered under Article 14 of the Royal Warrant of the 24th of February, 1873. Each case had to be submitted to the Treasury and was considered on its merits. The new Warrant has conferred on these officers the right which they did not before enjoy of retirement on full pay at the age of 55, provided they have 30 years' service, including 15 years as commissioned officer; and I have been unable to trace a single instance where an officer of the Coast Brigade of the Royal Artillery below that age was allowed to retire on full pay under the special arrangements of the Warrant of the 24th of February, 1873. Those are, I consider, sufficient reasons for the exceptional regulations in regard to those officers which have been laid down in the present Royal Warrant.