§ LORD STRATHNAIRN, in rising to call attention to the injury to the State resulting from the imperfect record of the services of officers, whereby many such services remained unrewarded, while others were unduly recognized, said, he had in previous discussion submitted to their Lordships' attention the question as to the very unfavourable results of the imperfect record of officers' services. The subject, therefore, was familiar to their Lordships' House, at least as regarded his opinion in reference to it. The imperfect record of Hart's Army List was in principle too eulogistic. In reference to that publication, while Hart inserted any official proof or otherwise of officers' services, his records were unauthenticated by superior authority as an official record of services, the fact being that those services were inserted solely on the representation of the officers themselves.
THE EARL OF MORLEYsaid, that the noble and gallant Lord had referred to an Amendment which he moved yesterday, and which he stated would add, if adopted, to the remuneration given to officers. The noble and gallant Lord's Amendment would have no such effect; and, if it had, it would be out of place in an Army Acts Consolidation Bill, which had nothing to do with the pay of officers at all. With respect to officers' services, since 1873 confidential Reports had been sent in yearly of the services of staff and regimental officers, and had been duly noted. The noble and gallant 909 Lord said that the services of officers were noted only on their own representation; and that was, no doubt, the case with the services recorded in Hart's Army List. But if the noble and gallant Lord had pursued his investigations into the new quarterly Army List, he would have found that it contained an official record of the services of officers which filled 140 pages. He would refer the noble and gallant Lord to page 1,231 of the new quarterly Army List. He would find in that list all that he required, and if the noble and gallant Lord could indicate any inaccuracies they would be corrected.