§ * EARL DE LA WARRMy Lords, I wish to call the attention of Her Majesty's Government to a statement which, if correct, will seriously affect the present position, and probably the future efficiency, of the Royal Maltese Militia. It is stated on good authority, and it has not I believe been contradicted, that the pay of the officers of the Maltese Militia has recently been considerably reduced. I wish to ask the noble Lord who represents the War Office in this House whether that is the case, and to ask him to what extent that has taken place, and also whether the reason can without inconvenience be stated? My Lords, what seems to increase the weight of the blow which this regiment appears to have received is that this reduction was made some time after the formation of the regiment, without informing those whom it will most seriously affect. I venture therefore to hope 4 that Her Majesty's Government will state what amount of pay to these officers was agreed upon when the regiment was formed, and what reduction was afterwards made in that pay, and whether it was done without informing the officers. I do not wish to press anything upon Her Majesty's Government which might be inconvenient at this moment to be stated; but I do think that it concerns very much the welfare of this corps that some explanation should be given to them why this reduction was made. It may be in the recollection of your Lordships that not long ago this regiment was inspected by His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief in Malta, and that great commendation was given with regard to the soldierlike bearing of the men and also the efficiency which they had shown. I think therefore, my Lords, it is only due to this corps that some explanation should be given, and some reason stated to them why Her Majesty's Government have thought fit to reduce this pay, and that without their assent and without their knowing the reason why it has been done. I beg therefore to ask the noble Lord who represents the War Office in this House whether any information can be given to your Lordships which will throw light upon the subject.
§ * THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Earl BROWNLOW)My Lords, I must preface my reply to the noble Earl by explaining to your Lordships' House that the service rendered by the Royal Malta Militia differs in many respects from the services rendered by any other regiment in Her Majesty's Service. Their services cannot be compared with those of the Militia, because they have never yet been called out for permanent training; their services are more similar to those rendered by the Volunteers. But when one comes to the question of pay it is obvious that, as the Volunteers serve the country for nothing, it is impossible to make any comparison in that respect. I will inform your Lordships what the state of the case is. When it was first proposed to raise the Royal Malta Militia it was supposed that their service would be in every way similar to that of a Militia regiment in this country: 5 that they would be called out for a short period of training, and that during that time they would, as a matter of course, receive the full pay and allowances received by Militia regiments. It appears, however, that it was impossible to make an arrangement for this, and the arrangement that was at last come to was that they should give 78 half day's work, and that for those 78 half days the officers should receive half pay. Subsequently a very strong appeal was made by the officers of the regiment that they should be allowed for a time to draw full pay. The reason given was that there were large initial expenses in raising the regiment connected with uniform, band, and so on, and that as the regiment was raised from the beginning the officers would have to give a great deal more time than the half time proposed when the regiment was first raised. The Secretary of State, after due consideration, made this concession for the year, and allowed the officers to draw full pay. Another appeal was made at the end of the first year, when the Secretary of State was again begged to extend the time for another year and allow these officers to receive full pay. That concession was allowed for another year; but at that time it was on the distinct understanding that at the end of that period the 78 half days should be given for half pay. My Lords, I think that these concessions on the part of the Secretary of State were certainly amply justified by the conduct of the officers themselves. They applied themselves with great zeal and energy to making their regiment as efficient as they could, and, as the noble Earl has already said, when they were paraded for inspection before His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, His Royal Highness was able to express his unqualified satisfaction at the efficiency of the regiment and the soldierlike appearance of the men upon parade. Again another appeal was made, and the Secretary of State took the whole matter very carefully into his consideration. The proposal then made was that the regiment should form a camp for ten days, during which time the officers were to receive not only full pay, but messing allowance, and that the number of days should be 6 reduced from 78 to 56. Apparently this has never been carried out. I do not know quite what the local difficulties may be in the Island, but there seem to be difficulties in the way, and the regiment has never yet been called out for permanent training. If they were, no doubt the arrangement would be easy to carry out; but the difficulties, whatever they are, lie in Malta. Under these circumstances there has been no other alternative but to revert to the original arrangement of the 78 half days for half pay, and that is how the matter stands now. Therefore, so far from there being any reduction in the pay of the officers, all that has now been done is really to revert to the original arrangement made at the beginning. I hope the noble Earl will be satisfied with that answer.
§ EARL DE LA WARRDid I correctly understand that the terms were 78 days' training for 78 days' pay?
§ EARL BROWNLOWSeventy-eight half days. I may mention that the time for drill on those days has been fixed by His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief at three hours, which cannot be called a full day.