§ * MR. SIR CHARLES DILKE (Gloucestershire, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he will state what is meant in a recent order by the Commander in Chief in India by the dates 13¼ and 20¼ years service, and what number of men are thus serving in India beyond the terms of their engagement.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingThe terms of engagement referred to are twelve years and twenty-one years respectively. To these terms one year is added under Section 87 of the Army Act, and the men have then to be discharged with all convenient speed, which has been interpreted by the War Office to be within three, months. I am not aware that there are any cases in which men are serving beyond the terms of their engagement as thus explained.