§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War if he will explain why subaltern officers of Militia regiments, now attached to Line battalions in South Africa, performing the same duties as the regimental officers, and subject to the same risks of death or wounds in the field, or disease, are not, when occasions arise, given commissions in the Line, while captains and subalterns from Volunteer regiments, who have seen no service, are appointed to the vacant places; whether the War Office is averse to giving a commission to a man under twenty-one years of age; whether colonels in command have been privately cautioned not to recommend for 1457 commissions men under the age of twenty-one; and can he say why young men who have served in the campaign should be debarred, if otherwise deserving, on the ground of their youth, of preferment, having regard to the fact that they have been in charge of troops on the battlefield.
§ *MR. WYNDHAMThe commanding officer of every Militia battalion has been asked to recommend two of his officers for commissions in the Line, provided they are between the ages of twenty and thirty and unmarried; and in many cases officers attached to Line battalions in South Africa have been recommended and given commissions. Candidates for direct commissions, if taken below the age of twenty, would unfairly supersede the cadets at the Royal Military College and candidates who present themselves for the Militia examination. They would also be less fitted to stand hardships in the field than older men. Any Militia officer may be given a Line commission for distinguished service, irrespective of age.