§ Mr. GINNELLasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office if he will state what is the necessity for paying officers through banking agents; how many such agents are there; by whom appointed and paid, and on what scale; whether any other of such agents but Messrs. Holt and Company, of Whitehall Place, and Messrs. Cox and Company, of Charing Cross, deduct and appropriate small sums under the name of banking charges from young officers having no experience of banking and not knowing whether the charges are legitimate or not; and what is the authority for making those deductions?
§ Mr. FORSTERThere are three Army agents for officers on British pay—Messrs. Cox and Company, Messrs. Holt and Company, and Sir C. R. McGrigor, Bart., and Company. They are appointed by the War Office to act as paymasters for Army officers without any remuneration. This is the gain to the Government. The officers benefit by obtaining their pay automatically without any application or acknowledgment. No officer need bank with an agent. He may direct the agent to remit his pay in full as it falls due on the 1st of each month in advance, to any bank he may select. This is done free of charge. The agents inform officers that they are prepared to open banking accounts; and it is for the individual officer to arrange terms if he elects to bank with them.