§ Sir EDWARD CARSONasked the Secretary of State for War whether any opportunity will be available for discussing the case of Colonel Waldron and the petition presented by him to the Secretary of State?
§ Mr. HALDANEThe question can be raised when the Vote for my salary is under discussion.
§ Sir EDWARD CARSONasked the Secretary of State for War whether all the reports furnished by the various officers consulted with reference to the 565W qualifications of Colonel Waldron for promotion to the rank of general have been furnished to that officer?
§ Mr. HALDANEUnder the King's Regulations, the yearly confidential or other official reports on an officer, if adverse, have to be communicated to him verbatim; but when the question of an officer's fitness for promotion by selection to higher rank comes before the Selection Board, the Board is guided not only by the official reports, but also by the personal knowledge which the members of the Board may possess of his qualifications for employment in a higher grade. Mere seniority gives no claim to promotion, the rule being to select for advancement the fittest officers for the appointments tenable by them if promoted. Sir Neville Lyttelton is understood to have consulted Lieutenant-General Parsons privately about General Waldron, who afterwards appears to have become acquainted with the correspondence; but this private communication was not of a nature to prejudice the Board against General Waldron. I may add that no officers were consulted by the Selection Board, nor were any reports placed before the Board other than the Annual Confidential Reports and the correspondence above referred to.