§ COLONEL SANDYS (Lancashire, Bootle)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been drawn to the want of officers in the Militia, amounting to some 600 in the force at the present time; whether he is aware that, under a royal warrant, Line officers who elect to serve with Militia are allowed to do so for ten years on. pay and are then retired compulsorily; and whether, in view of the want of such officers in the Militia at the present time, he will consider the advisability of allowing them to continue serving in the Militia regiments so long as they are favourably reported upon by their commanding officers?
§ *MR. BRODRICKThe number of Militia officers is nearly 600 below the establishment. The compulsory retirement referred to in the Question is from the Army, not the Militia. The officer's half-pay stops at the end of ten years after leaving the Regular forces, but there is nothing to prevent his continuance in the Militia. In any case, very few officers are affected, as only seven took advantage last year of this system of retirement from the Army.