HC Deb 31 July 1879 vol 248 cc1706-7
COLONEL ARBUTHNOT

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether the report in the "Times" of the 21st instant is accurate, which represents him as having said that— Her Majesty has very recently agreed to a proposal which will enable successful students at the Military College in Canada to enter into competition annually for appointments in the English Army; and, if so, whether, in consideration of the novelty of this proposal, he will lay upon the Table of the House the Rules and Regulations under which such students would be entitled to compete; and, whether equal facilities will be granted to Her Majesty's subjects in Her Majesty's other Colonial Possessions where similar military educational establishments may be formed in future to obtain Commissions in the Imperial Army?

SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH

Sir, the statement which I made the other day was merely a general reference to an arrangement which has been recently made, the precise terms of which are that four commissions annually—one in the Engineers, one in the Artillery, one in the Cavalry, and one in the Line—shall be given to successful candidates, being duly qualified, from the Royal Military College at Kingston. The rules for the competition will, I presume, be laid down by the War Office after communication with the authorities of the College; and I cannot say whether they could or could not be presented to the House. I do not think any reply could be given to the Question whether equal facilities will be granted to other Colonies, until it is ascertained whether a College exists in any other of our Colonies equal in position to the College at Kingston.