§ Sir P. LLOYD-GREAMEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the rates of pay of officers in the inspection and design branches of the Royal Navy have not yet been settled, although the pay of the corresponding branches in the Army were settled several months ago; whether the pay of the corresponding branches in the Navy and Army before the War were approximately the same; and, if so, if he will explain why the rates for the Navy should not now be fixed to correspond with those in the Army?
§ Sir J. CRAIGI have been asked to reply to this question. The proposed new rates of pay for officers of the Inspection and Design Branches are still under consideration. Before the War the pay of the corresponding branches in the 1827W Navy and Army was approximately the same. The rates now proposed take into consideration the fact that, whereas an Army officer in the Inspection Department is on a purely military basis, and is liable to revert at any moment to some other military duty, an officer employed in the Naval Inspection Branch is, in all respects, in the same position as a civilian employed in a permanent capacity. This consideration is held to justify the Admiralty in proposing rates of emolument which approximate to, but are slightly less than, the corresponding Army rates.