§ Mr. BUTCHERasked the Secretary of State for War whether the rights of officers serving under Article 513, Pay Warrant, of 1907, who have not accepted promotion under Army Order 123, of 1st April, 1909, or voluntarily accepted its conditions, will be recognised and maintained; and whether officers serving as majors on the 1st April, 1909, will be granted their pension of £300 at the age of forty-eight, if not previously promoted and if they wish to retire?
§ Mr. HALDANECompulsory retirement is not a right, but a liability, and officers are not entitled to compensation for being allowed to serve longer. When the change was made it was recognised that officers nearing the age of forty-eight might have made private arrangements in anticipation 2019W of retirement, and majors who were then within two years of that age were given the option of retiring at forty-eight on the rate laid down for compulsory retirement. I see no reason for extending this concession.