§ MR. WARTONasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether he will take into consideration the position of those Captains of the Royal Artillery who will be unable, under the provisions of the Royal Warrant of this year (Section 1, Division 1, paragraph 10), to obtain Brevet majorities after twenty years' service, owing to the fact that in and about the year 1864 they were, by reason of the exceptional fulness of the regiment, kept waiting for several months, after passing out of the Royal Military Academy, before being gazetted; and, whether he will allow their first Commissions to be antedated (without back pay) to the date of their passing out of the Royal Military Academy?
§ MR. CHILDERSIn reply to the hon. and learned Member, I have to state that I have taken into consideration the cases of the captains of Artillery to 1362 whom he refers, but that I do not think that I should be justified in adopting his proposal. The benefit to the officers would be slight, while it would be dearly purchased by the adoption, on a considerable scale, of an antedate going back 17 or 20 years, a proceeding quiet without precedent, and which might lead to very inconvenient consequences.