§ MR. ERRINGTONasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether the full Colonels of the Guards, in addition to their privilege of nominating for commissions, have, by Warrant or otherwise, the right to control and prevent exchanges into and from their regiments; whether his attention has been called to a case stated in the Army and Navy Gazette of the 26th instant as having recently occurred, in which an exchange between an officer of the Foot Guards and a Cavalry officer, though not objected to and even virtually sanctioned by the Horse Guards, was, to the serious inconvenience and loss of the officers concerned, prohibited by the full Colonel of the Guards regiment; whether the reasons on which the Colonel's decision was alleged to have been founded—viz., that the exchange would prejudice the rights of other officers in the regiment, can be maintained, and if admitted would not prevent all purchase officers in the Guards from being able to exchange; and, whether the Com- 63 mander in Chief has not some means of protecting these officers from the hardships which may be entailed upon them by the irresponsible exercise of these powers by the full Colonels of their regiments?
§ COLONEL STANLEY, in reply, said, the full Colonels of the Guards had always had by custom, for all time, so far as he could trace—not by Warrant, he believed—the right to control admissions into their regiments, and to a certain extent that would also affect exchanges, inasmuch as the officer who exchanged into the regiment was to be looked upon as a first appointment in some respects. His attention had been called to the case stated in the Question, and he must correct the statement that the exchange was prohibited by the full Colonel of the Guards regiment. The exchange, which, like all others, was an indulgence to an officer, and not a right, was prohibited by the Commander-in-Chief and the military authorities, after consultation with the full Colonel of the regiment. With regard to the third part of the Question, the hon. Gentleman must excuse his answering it except so far as saying that he did not admit that any seeming right or hardship to any officer ought to stand in the way of that which would be for the benefit of the Service. There was no doubt the Commander-in-Chief had absolute power in those matters, though the exercise of that power against the wishes of the full Colonel of the regiment was, of course, somewhat a matter of discretion. These matters in their general aspect were at present under consideration, but not as regarded any particular case.