§ CAPTAIN PRICEasked the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether the noncommissioned officers and men of the Royal Marine Forces have had extended to them the increase of pay granted to their comrades in the Army in 1873 and 1876, or that granted to seamen of the Navy in 1877; and, whether it is the case that the private of Marines doing duty in garrison in Ireland receives more pay than the private of the same corps doing duty in garrison in England; and, if so, for what reason? The hon. and gallant Member also asked, If any steps are being taken to lessen the long standing of the senior lieutenants of the 1235 Royal Marine Light Infantry; and, what reply has been given to the memorials to the Board of Admiralty on this matter?
§ MR. TREVELYANSir, when the increase of pay was granted to the Army and Navy at the dates of 1873, 1870, and 1877, the then Boards of Admiralty considered the question, and came to the conclusion not to grant the same increase to the Marines. I will not go into the reasons for that decision, nor does the hon. and gallant Member ask for them. The private of Marines doing duty in Ireland loses one of the great advantages of the Marine Corps as opposed to the Army, that of being permanently settled in the same fixed quarters, and he consequently is for the time placed on a level with the Army in regard to pay. The First Lord of the Admiralty has had personal interviews with senior lieutenants of the Royal Marines, and he is fully alive to the position of those officers, and to other questions relating to the Corps of Royal Marines. When the proposals of the Secretary of State for War with regard to the Army have been submitted to the House of Commons and finally settled and arranged, questions relating to the Royal Marines will be carefully and, I hope, not ineffectually dealt with by the Admiralty.