§ 30. Mr. CROOKSasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that before the War the pay of a second-lieutenant was 5s. 3d. per day and the pay of a quartermaster 9s. per day; that now the pay of a second-lieutenant is 10s. 6d. per day and the same for a quartermaster, the second-lieutenant receiving this amount from the commencement of his career as an officer, whereas a quartermaster has had to give long and useful service before reaching such rank; whether he is aware that there are many 3412 quartermasters with the rank of captain who were receiving this rate of 10s. 6d. per day before these new minimum rates were established, and the only increase others received was one of 6d. per day, in accordance with Army Order 43 of 1918, which lays it down that no officer shall receive less than 10s. 6d. per day; and whether, having regard to all the circumstances, and particularly the services being rendered by the quartermasters, he will favourably consider the possibility of granting an increase proportionate to that granted to junior officers?
§ Mr. FORSTERI am fully aware of these facts. The principle on which the War Cabinet proceeded in dealing with officers' pay was not that of proportionate increase, but that of overriding minimum. My right hon. Friend will remember that in these days the second-lieutenant is no longer a lad fresh from school or college, but in very many cases a man with a family, like the quartermaster; and also that the quartermaster has received children's allowances when eligible for them, whatever his rank and rate of pay.