§ 106. Major CAYZERasked the Secretary to the Admiralty if he will say, with regard to the exclusion of junior officers of the Navy from the new award of war bonuses, whether the Board considers the present pay of these officers adequate to their social position in view of the present high prices of necessaries; whether the Board, in coming to that decision, recognised the responsibilities of junior accountancy officers; whether a considerable proportion of the loss of life among junior accountancy officers in the late War is reasonably attributable to their faithful performance of their duty; and, if so, whether the incidence of such duty is held by the Board to constitute a responsibility of a kind which calls for adequate pay to those upon whom it rests?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAAs indicated in the answer which I gave to my hon. and gallant Friend on the 26th February, in which I mentioned the present rates of pay of paymaster midshipmen and paymaster cadets, the Board of Admiralty came to the conclusion that an addition to their present rates of pay was not necessary. In coming to this conclusion, the Board was not unmindful of the responsibility of these junior accountancy officers. I deeply regret to say that twenty-one of these officers lost their lives during the War in the faithful discharge of duty. As I have already said, junior accountancy officers are eligible for war service gratuities and prize.