§ SIR JAMES FERGUSSON (Manchester, N.E.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether the Committee sitting at the Treasury upon the employment of soldiers by the Departments of Government has yet reported; and what Departments have as yet offered places preferentially to soldiers?
§ SIR J. T. HIBBERTThe Committee is, as I have before stated, not a Committee upon the employment of soldiers, but a Committee on the subject of messengers in Public Departments. The Committee presented its Report to the Treasury yesterday, but there has, of course, not yet been time to consider it. The two Departments which employ the largest number of messengers—namely, the War Office and Admiralty—have, the former since 1879 and the latter since 1881, filled vacancies in these posts exclusively by men who have served in the Army or Navy (including the Marines).
§ SIR J. FERGUSSONWill the right hon. Gentleman lay Papers on the Table if I move for them?
§ SIR J. T. HIBBERTI will consider that.