§ MR. LOWE (Birmingham, Edgbaston)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War will he explain why the sergeant-majors of consolidated battalions of Volunteers with more than six companies at headquarters receive only the same rate of pay and allowances as sergeant-majors in charge of outlying companies of administrative battalions; and whether he will consider the propriety of either granting to the former an increased rate of pay, or of granting them the same rank and pay as warrant officers sergeant-majors in the Militia.
LORD STANLEYVolunteer corps of six companies and upwards are entitled to a regimental acting sergeant-major, who is selected from the permanent staff by the commanding officer of the corps and receives the pay of his rank 401 and 6d. a day extra. This non-commissioned officer, whether in a consolidated or scattered battalion, is responsible for the duties of regimental sergeant-major, and his work is not confined to the particular company or companies at headquarters where he may be stationed. There is, accordingly, no reason for the differentiation of pay suggested.