§ LORD SYDENHAM rose to ask the Paymaster-General whether the number of captains in the divisional trains of the Army Service Corps serving in Flanders or France is short of establishment strength; whether lieutenants of the Army Service Corps serving therewith the ditties of captains receive pay and temporary rank as captains which is granted in similar cases in the 597 Cavalry and Infantry, and whether care is taken to prevent as far as possible the supersession of lieutenants in the Army Service Corps serving in Flanders or France by Officers coming out in divisional trains from England in eases where those officers have less service than lieutenants who have been some time abroad.
§ The noble Lord said: My Lords, a Question was put on this subject in another place not long ago, but the answer was not so transparently clear as I am sure will be the reply of the noble Lord to-day. In the Cavalry and Infantry all lieutenants who do duty as captains for more than one month are promoted at once to temporary commissions as captains, and are entitled to draw the pay of that rank; but in the Army Service Corps the officers are all on one promotion list and that may introduce some measure of difficulty. What seems to be the position is this. Some of the divisional trains in Flanders are short of captains, and certain lieutenants in those trains do duty as captains for many months but do not get the rank of captain or the pay attached to that rank; so it may happen that when other divisional trains go out from this country they take out captains whose total service is less than that of some lieutenants who have spent all their time at the Front. If that exists, as I am told it does, it must create a strong sense of grievance on the part of divisional train lieutenants at the Front. I hope the noble, Lord who will reply will be able to say that some remedy will be found. If it is laid down that promotion in the Army Service Corps is to be by selection only and that selection is applied to officers at the Front and at home, then clearly great care must be exercised in order to keep the balance between the officers serving at the Front and those at home; and if it is the case that all lieutenants in the Army Service Corps are supposed to be under training and therefore in a sense probationary, it seems to me that the training they are receiving at the Front would be better than any training they would be likely to receive at home. What I suggest is this, that whoever makes these promotions should carefully consider the claims of the officers of the Army Service Corps as a whole, whether they are at home or abroad. If that is done, I think what at present seems to be a distinct and legitimate grievance will be completely removed.
598§ THE PAYMASTER-GENERAL (LORD NEWTON)MY Lords, the question of temporary and permanent promotions is, as may noble friend knows better than myself, one of considerable complexity, and I am not at all confident that I am in a position to give him that clear and transparent answer which he is expecting. The establishment of a divisional train consists of one lieutenant-colonel, two majors, eight captains, and ten lieutenants; general speaking, these establishments are kept full by promotions being made as vacancies arise, but as some of the younger officers are recruited as undergoing instruction they are not considered available in every instance for promotion. As to lieutenants, in some cases they are given the temporary rank of captain with the pay and allowances of that rank, as in the case of the Cavalry and Infantry, but, as my noble friend is well aware, it is difficult to apply identically the same system of promotion, because in the Army Service Corps, as he has already pointed out, promotion must run throughout the whole of the corps or else injustice will be created.
The point referred to in the last paragraph of my noble friend's Question has been constantly borne in mind, but it is obvious that new units formed over here must be provided with a due proportion of senior officers, and if suitable officers are available at home it is hardly desirable that officers of longer service at the Front should be brought back to fill these higher ranks, as that would, of course, weaken the units at the Front. With regard to the general question of commissions, I can inform my noble friend that some 4,000 commissions have been granted in the Army Service Corps, and of these a large number have been given promotion. This promotion has not been solely on the basis of seniority, but in virtue of previous Army experience; in some cases, I believe, of commercial experience; and in others of professional knowledge. In the cases where the officers have been serving in France promotion has been given on the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force, and the number of such officers who have received promotion is in proportion to the establishment of the Army Service Corps in France. The recommendations of Sir John French in this respect have always been favourably considered here.
§ LORD SYDENHAMAre there two authorities? Does the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force select the officers for promotion in France, and some one else those at home?
§ LORD NEWTONI should be sorry to say off-hand, but my impression is that that is the system.
§ LORD SYDENHAMIf that is so, it is easy to understand that some injustice may be done.