§ SIR SEYMOUR KINGI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether, seeing that the Government had taken all the time of the House on Tuesday 12th May, for which day a Motion in regard to the grievances of the officers of the General List had the first place, he will consent to the appointment of a small Select Committee to inquire into the injustice of which these officers complain?
§ LORD GEORGE HAMILTONI understand my hon. Friend's Question to relate only to the officers now on the General List; but in my opinion it would be quite impossible to confine any inquiry to these officers alone. It must necessarily be extended to all those who have already retired, accepting as final the repeated decisions of the Secretary of State on this subject. Every officer's case would have to be reconsidered. The case of the officers of the General List was discussed in this House in 1888, and has been repeatedly considered by successive Secretaries of State, who have always held that these officers had no claim whatever to the concession granted in 1866 to the Staff Corps and the officers who formerly belonged to the East India Company's army. Concurring, as I do, in this view, I am afraid that I cannot consent to the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the case. ["Hear, hear,!"]