§ MR. BALLANTINE (Coventry)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, since Her Majesty's Government has decided that Admiral Colomb's claims in respect of his invention of Hashing signals were barred by a document in the following terms which he signed in January, 1870, and gave to the then Under Secretary of State for War, Lord Northbrook, in receipt for £500 paid him—
In discharge of all claims on account of signal arrangements for land service and for joint Naval and Military use,the First Lord has had submitted to him a letter from Lord Northbrook stating that the document was. not intended to have the effect attributed to it, and a copy of a legal opinion of Sir H. James, dated February, 1890, in the following terms:—Admiral Colomb had not, in either letter or spirit, accepted the sums received by him in full satisfaction of all his claims;and whether the question referred to the Treasury for consideration is still the validity of Admiral Colomb's claim for compensation, or solely the amount of such compensation?
LORD G.HAMILTONAdmiralColomb has submitted to the Admiralty the Papers referred to; but, as the question of this officer's claims is still under consideration, I must decline to make any statement as to the action taken by the Admiralty in the matter.