§ MR. MOOREasked the Secretary of State for War, If he would explain why a Colonel on the Staff of the Royal Artillery should not hold the appointment for the term of five years, as laid down in paragraph 145, Royal Warrant 1881; why does one Colonel of Royal Artillery, promoted only five days before another, continue his command for the full term of five years, when the other, promoted on 1st October 1877, is removed before completing five years' command, both officers having entered the service under exactly similar conditions; and, why are the following advantages given to those Colonels R.A. promoted before 1st October 1877:—An option of retiring before a certain date, with an increased pension of £50 a year, and the chance of employment if they remained at the end of a five years' command; and also an advantage of two years in age before being compulsorily retired?
§ MR. CHILDERSI could not answer my hon. Friend in minute detail without 191 wearying the House. But the general answer is that after the Report of Lord Penzance's Commission the Warrant issued by Lord Cranbrook in 1877 drew a line between colonels or lieutenant colonels of Artillery then serving, and those who might thereafter be promoted to those ranks, preserving certain supposed vested interests of the former. We have not departed from this principle in the Warrant of 1831, following the extremely careful Report of Lord Morley's Committee, in which the reason for all the changes is fully given. I must refer my hon. Friend to the two Reports, which he will doubtless peruse with much interest.