The Sun.
London, England, 1840-04-22 00:00:00

FIN IN G EDIT TON__

ERAL REPORT OF COIE'dIL---
TONERS FOR INQUIRY INTO N'
•'.:vl) MILITARY PROMOTION AND RE-
./ IREMENT.

r .-1 it

(Continued froa The Sun of Yesterday. )
THE ARMY.
1 With reference to the Brevet of Lieutenant-C )I,:nel,
there is one class of appointments to which that rank is
always attached, which might, in our opinion, be made
available as a means of facilitating the advancement of
officers without purchase. This class comprises the
jof acting as the head of the departments of the
Adjutant-General, or the Quartermaster-General on
foreign stations, as Deputy Adjutant or Deputy Quar-
termaster-General. This appointment is very frequently
conferred upon a Regimental Major, who receives the
Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel with the appointment,
but vacates his regimental commission, and is exchanged
to half-pay of his regimental rank. The selection for
(this Staff duty is a sufficient proof that the officer has
served long or meritoriously, and the grant of Army
rank implies that the position he is about to fill is one
of labour and responsibility. But unless the officer
shall be enabled to retain his Staff appointment until
successive Brevets shall make him a Major-General,
it dons not appear that there is any ultimate advantage
resulting to him from the selection for this duty. He
may serve in a distant and unhealthy colony for years,
and when ill-health, there contracted, shall compel him
1 to relinquish his Staff appointment, he finds himself
merely in possession of that regimental rank he had
when he was selected for the Staff, and upon half-pay
instead of full-pay. If, with recovered health, he
desires to resume regimental duty, he must return as
the junior of his rank in any corps to which he may be
appointed, and be positively in a worse position than
!
he was when he was selected for the Staff appointment.
The details of one case will illustrate this.

The senior Major of a regiment was, after ten years'
service in that rank, selected seven years ago for such
a Staff appointment, and placed upon the half-pay of
his regimental rank with the Brevet of Lieutenant-
' Colonel. He has discharged those Staff duties in an
unhealthy climate, and may probably desire to relin
quish a Staff appointment which entails upon him a
continued residence at such a station. But if he does
so, he will find himself upon the half-pay of a commis-
sion to which lie was appointed seventeen years ago ;
and if he resume regimental duty, it must be as junior
Major, instead of as senior Major, in which position he
was placed fifteen years ago.
We consider this to be a case which calls for a dis-
tinct remedy, and that. an arrangement should he made
under which Staff service, as the head of a department
should be advantageous to an officer, and should have
the effect of placing him in a better position than he
held when he was selected for the Staff. With this
view we would suggest for your Majesty's considera-
tion, that after five years' service in the Colonies as
Deputy Adjutant-General, or as Deputy Quarter-
master-General, an officer in the position we have de-
scribed may be recommended for an effective step of
rank upon half-pay.
As a general measure, we should be disposed to re-
commend that the effective rank should only be con-
ferred upon such officers upon their ceasing to hold the
Stiff appointment, for which service it might be consi-
sidered as a reward ; but as cases might arise in which
it might be desirable to retain the officer's services after
his promotion, and where his removal might even be
inexpedient for the public service, we do not propose
to submit any rule to your Majesty in this respect.
We are persuaded that the additional value thus
conferred upon Staff service of the higher class will
have a beneficial effect in stimulating the energies of
those who may be selected for those appointments, as
they will be sensible that a fair share of duty will secure
that promotion of which, under present circumstances,
the holders of these situations are debarred.
We should also desire to secure for the corps to
which these officers belong some advantage from the
selection of one of their Field-Officers for an honour-
able post of this description ; and the arrangement
we would propose for accomplishing this would be,
that there should be a relaxation of the rule under
which an officer, selected for one of these appointments
is exchanged to half-pay. We should recommend that,
in cases in which the Commander- in-Chief should think
it desirable to give promotion in the regiment without
purchase, the officer selected for ti:is superior Staff ap-
poMtment should be placed upon let!f-pay of his rank,
on the same principle that was adopted in regard to the
permanent Assistant Quartermaster-tie aerals some years
ago, and that his regimental commission should be filled
by promotion. The only conditions i,ve ilould propose
to annex to this arrangement are. that no particular
Staff appointment should be so fiile:l up oftener than
once in five years ; and that, as such creation of halt-
pay would cause additional expense to the public, the
Commander-in-Chief should communicate any proposed
arrangement of this description to the Secretary-at-War
before it is carried into effect.
There is no particular point in regard to the Brevet
of Major upon which we feel it necessary to offer any
observations ; but with reference to the grant of Brevet
rank for actions of distinguished gallantry in the field, a
system which, as shown by the evidence of Lord Fitz-
roy Somerset, was introduced into the Service in the
year 1811, we are happy to find that ail the witnesses
whom we examined on this subject arc tmetter.ous in
their estimation of the value of that distinetto.f.
Having carefully examined the position o: the officer
of the Army when on service, and the prospects be-
fore
him of promotion, we entered upon the considera-
tion of his situation in retirement, and an examination
of the means that are open to him of relinqui.liing the
military service.
If the officer should desire to remain id the army,
retiring from active employment, but retaieieg his hold
upon the service with a view to subsequent promotion,
he may be exchanged to half-pay, provided li's services
shall be sufficient to give him a title to that allowance,
et the rates specified in the Warrant of '2ll July,
1830 ; but, as before explained, those only who held
Field-Officer's rank can retain the privilege ;if further
promotion while on half-pay by an offer of scr
If the officer should desire to remain in the army as
an annuitant merely, relinquishing not only :leti,e em-
ployment, but also his expectations of further i:.romo-
Con, he may, if his services he of sufficient 1,11 th, 1,0
permitted to retire upon half-pay, receiviug 11;i' (fiTe-
rence. We shall offer an explanation of thi:4
of retirement upon half-pay when we come t t inv s-
tigation of the system of retirement by sale of te toe;h-
sion, as it is in effect a partial sale of it
is only necessary to notice here, that retiremo .t
ha; -pay, receiving the differ•nce, is no longer i
a final relinquishment of the service, as it e: , ro• si
(?cre:l when the system was first intr,duceil
An officer is now permitted to return to the s-
repayment of the dfference, and would then hi, i'ly
ei4,7lb le with any other officer for further proatoti
But while he is on halt-pay, holding the differeeee, ii
is not eIi,,ALA for any advancement, or any military em
ployment.
We ascertained that no increase of half-pay is given
to any rank for standing upon half-pay, whatever may
be the period of an officer's holding a commission in
the service ; and that the only ranks of combatant
officers in which any increased half-pay may be I:etieed
by Brevet rank or prolonged full service, are the U.tp-
ttiins of Infantry having the Brevet of Major, wiee
under the Warrant of 37th October, 1831, may ebtaa
a half-pay of Ss. instead of 7s. a day ; and the
tenants of Infantry, of more than seven years' stat..!;:eg
at the time of retirement to half-pay, who receive 43.
CI Instead of 4;. a day. It is at the same ti.ne to be
ol)served, that these two classes are the only rack; ef
comb itauts in which increasa of full pay may be üb-
tdned for Brevet or length of service.

It. wag represented to us by Lord Fitzroy Scrrwrset
and Sir Willoughby Gordon that the provision of half-
pay was an inadequate allowance for officers of long
service ; and our attention was frequently directed to
the scale adopted by the East India Company for the
retirement of the officers of their army as one which
it would be expedient to introduce into your Majesty's

'rat: principle of the regulation of the East India
Company's Army is, that an officer after a certain term
o° service in India may retire upon the full pay of a
commission which ho never held as an effective corn-

Hiss OU.

We are not prepared to recommend to your Majesty
the adoption. of such, a principle in regard to the (of your Majesty s army,. and we consider that' the errs
tirely different constitution of the regular army, with'
its privileges of advancement by purchase and retire-
ment by sale of commission, does not require the main-
tenance of a retired establishment on the scale adopted
by the Company.
We are, however, perfectly prepared to support the
recommendation we received from the military autho-
rities, that distinguished officers of long and meritorious
service should have a better provision than the half-pay
o,e their ranks ; and we therefore proceeded to examine
the ~revision of retired full pay allowed to the army.
We found that the advantages of this establishment
are at pre: ant, and have been for the last seventeen
years, entirely withheld from the combatant officers of
the army ; and, ag the circumstances under which they
are excluded are cooequent upon a financial revision
of army regulations made in 1 182 c,, it may be proper
e
to 'how the position of the officers of the army in re-
gard to this provision of retired :,711-Pay before and
since that revision,

An appointment to an invalidcompany p. -"jot. to
1802, or to a veteran battalion after that time, car,-.lc''
with it a title to retired full-pay
the
e of the rank in which
the officer was serving, if
should be reduced. During the war company
or battalion
were unfit
many officers
were found in the veteran battalionwswnhso had to dis-
charge for the limited duties those Litt:,
as
stpd, which
aasse
charge ; and an Act of Parliament
enabled the Crown, under certain circumstances
ability, to grant full-pay before the disbandmentnce of dis-
a
of the
battalion in which the officer might be serving,
Shortly after this Act had passed, and the veterans
had been relieved from their inefficient officers, the dis-
bandment of the battalions took place, and the whole
body of officers were placed upon retired full-pay on the

reduction of the force. Tee condition of retired full- I
pay was, that the officer could not advance to higher
rank in the service, and he was exempted from all re-
cad to duty, except in veterans,
In 1319 ten veteran battalions were called out, and
a very considerable number of the officers recalled to
the service on that occasion from the retired list were
found to be totally unfit for service. It became neces-
sary to appoint other officers in their places. These
new officers were all appointed under the understood
regulation with regard to veterans, namely that they
wore to have full-pay on disbandment. In 1821 the
greater part of these ten battalions were disbanded, and
the new officers got retired full pay as well as the old.
This improvident system, under which a mere up-
pointment to a veteran battalion carried with it a title to
retired full pay, attracted the attention of Government
and of the public, end some extravagant grants of full-
pav for a veteran service of two years, or even IQS3,
were shown to have been the consequence.
A revision of the subject took place, and under the
recommendation of a Committee of members of the Go-
vernment, a warrant was issued by the Crown, declar-
ing that, as the appointment to a veteran battalion
might be a contingency of service for a short period only,
it should not necessarily carry with it a title to retired
full-pay on disbandment. But to preserve to the Army
this provision of retired full-pay, it was enacted that a
permanent charge, equal to that of six veteran batta-
lions of officers, should be maintained as a refuge for the
worn-out and meritorious officer. The proposed pro-
spective charge was found to amount to about 40,0001.
a year, and the Secretary at War, instead of recom-
mending to his Majesty to adopt a retired establishment
equal to six battalions of officers, sugizested that the
same amount should be distributed among
12 Lieutenant-Colonels, 60 Lieutenants,
24 Majors, 30 Ensigns.
90 Captains,
At present the charge for retired full-pay is about
55,000/. a-year, and as one of the provisions of the
warrant is that no new name should he put on the list
till the amount is reduced below the 40,000/. a-year,
although there may be vacancies in any particular class,
it is quite clear that the officers of the Army may for
several years be deprived of the benefits of this esta-
blishment. In this respect the Army has not that ad-
vantage which has been permanently maintained, and
even enlarged, in regard to the other services ; and we
are persuaded that your Majesty will permit us to ex-
press our sense of the necessity of placing the officers
of the Army on a footing with those of the Marines
and of the Ordnance, by giving them an immediate op-
portunity of retirement upon full-pay to the extent of a
limited establishment. We have no cause to believe
that the proposed annuity of 40,0001. is insufficient for
this purpose ; but we are decidedly of opinion that
some revision of the numbers and of the several classes
is quite requisite to apportion the reward which the
public has granted for military service, in a better re-
lation to the services performed than it stands at pre-
sent, even under the scale of the Warrant 0f1330.

We must at once say that we cannot recognise any claim,
in an officer of Subaltern's rank, to retired full-pay,
with reference to the service the Army is now perform-
ing ; and we are therefore prepared to recommend that,
in the proposed new retired establishment, there should
be no provision for either Lieutenants or Ensigns. In
the present state of the Army, among well-conducted
officers, even those whose promotion is the slowest,
never serve so long in the rank of Ensign as to give
them any claim to be allowed to retire on full-pay ; and
the cases in which such an indulgence might not im-
properly be extended to Lieutenants seem to us to be
already sufficiently provided for in a better manner by
the Warrant of 27th October 1834, to which we have
already referred.
Our recommendation would therefore be, that the
sum set apart for retired full-pay to officers of Subal-
tern's rank should be applied to a provision for officers
of the rank of Captain and Field-Officer ; and we esti-
mate that the following establishment would cost an-
nually about 38,000/. ; viz.-20. Lieutenant-Colonels,
at 17s. a-day ;20 Majors, at 16s. a-day ; 115 Captains
(of whom a number not exceeding 45 might be Brevet
Majors, at 13s. 7d. a-day) ; the remaining Captains
receiving 1 Is. 7d. a-day. This establishment, we feel it
incumbent upon us to recommend, should be at once
made complete ; those of the ranks included in the
above scale, who are now on the retired list, being con-
sidered as part of the establishment ; and the vacan-
cies to be immediately filled by officers selected and re-
commended to your Majesty by the Commander-in-
Chief.

We should further propose that all officers of other
ranks now on the retired full-pay should be considered
as supernumerary to the proposed establishment of
38,000/., which we contemplate as the permanent pro-
vision of full-pay.
The 2,0001. a-year which we have abstracted from
this contemplated 'establishment of retired full-pay, we
should suggest, might be appropriated in increasing the
half-pay of officers of long and meritorious service ; and
the mode in which, in our opinion, it would be best ap-
plied, would be in annuities of 100/. each to 20 'Regi-
mental Lieutenant-Colonels, having the Brevet rank of
Colonel, who have retired or may retire to half-pay after
30 years' service upon full-pay.
The half-pay which this class of officers receives is
I Is. a day, or 200/. a year only ; and the moderate ad-
dition we propose for a selected number will form some
compensation for the delay that may be interposed be-
tween their retirement to half-pay and their advance-
ment lo the rank of Major-General.
Our attention was strongly drawn to the considera-
tion of this class of officers from the examination of a
distinguished member of it, Colonel Vigoureux, to
whose evidence, as exemplifying his own position, we
beg to refer.
Sir Edward Blakeney appears to have been much
impressed with the necessity of openinc, a retired full-
pay list to provide for Regimental' Commanding
Officers of long standing-, who had become inefficient
for regimental duty. He proposed that the rank of
Colonel should be alto.sether one of retirement in
three classes, the first n'oeiving 400/. a-year, the mi-
nimum pay of a Genera! Officer; the second, 3501. ;
and the third, 300/. a-year. 110 estimated the expense
of this proposed retirement a-. 104,000/. a-year ; but, on
the other hand, he anticipated some. saving from reducing
the probable number of Gi.arr.d UJicers. To make this
retirement an honourable po-itiosi for an officer, Sir Ed-
ward Blakeney proposed to coupe with it the grant of
some badge of distinction, i;. aVbicb he is supposed to
;nave alluded to the third cho of ;he aith.

It appeared very doubtful, from the course.of his sub-
sequent
examination, and the evidence of Lord Fitzroy
Somerset on the same subj , whether this scheme of
re trement, which Sir Edward meant to be voluntary,
x!illougli there was subsequently an obvious contempla-
tion of a forced retirement,upoll the Report of a Medical
Board, would have been satisfactory to the officer in im-
proving his position ; or, as it regarded the public, whe-
t her it would be sufficiently ad vatvageous to compensate
for the admitted cost of 100,0001. a-year.
The tendency of the scheine was to deprive the officer
of the right to sell his commission, which, if he were a
Lieutenant-Colonel of Infantry, would be worth 4,5001.,
and to give him instead, witbou: hope of further pro-
motion, en annuity which, at the maximum rate, would
be scarcely more than that his purchase-money would
obtain for him from the Government Office ; and at the
minimum rate, might be less th m could be purchased at
the same office.

Lard Fitzroy Somerset did not think. that many offi-
cers would take these terms, as a delay of a few years
might give them the rank of Major-General, with the
proposed maxiina:n annuity of -lOU, and the prospect
of greater advantages in their new rank. With regard
to the proposed grant of the third class of the Bath,
Lord Fitzroy did not think that such a grant would be
consistent with the principles on which that distinction
should be conferred ; in which opinion we arc entirely
disposed to concur ; and with reference to the general
scheme of Sir Edward Blakenoy, we could not see any
grounds for a reasonable:expectation that the efficiency
of the service would be improved to a degree at all cor-
responding with the expense which the plan would have
entailed upon the public.
Sir John Macdonald was disposed to recommend that
An officer who retired upon full-pay should retain his
right to advance in his profession ; and as this is a boon
which we have recommended your Majesty to grant to
the Field-officers of the seniority services, the Marines
and the Ordnance corps, under similar circumstances,
it is proper that we should report to your Majesty the
grounds upon which we have come to a different con-
clusion in reffard to officers of the Army.
In the Mbarines and the Ordnance corps the retire-
ment upon full-pay may be an enforced measure. The
officer may be, in many cases, very unwilling to relin-
quish the prospects of advancement in his profession,
and be nevertheless compelled to retire upon public
considerations, as being not fully qualified for the dis-
charge of his duty. He has no option of retiring other-
wise open to him, having no title to sell his commission,
and little or no prospect of returning to the service in
a suitable position, if his health be restored, whereas
in the
the a,rrniboy
othffieoeretirement
accepts l Po b
full-paythat provision
will bewi 01l hlauvne-
badtebniefpoorrearbyimrethtiereompetniotnuoposnellhi thnaat. ill, commission, or
of ay,) with the full
i lgdh t o have
an that at a subsequent periodP be
F might
opportunity of resuming service as ain a position perhaps not different from that he origi-
nallyer
relinquished. We see in these cireurnstancessuf-
ficient reason for preserving the existing rule in the
Army, that retirement on full-pay should exclude an
office r from all further promotion.
We have oply now to consider the third mode of re-
which, if an officer should desire to discon-
tiremt,--nt' by
nect himse..lf from the service, and retire into private
life, lie is permitte„: to sella out of the army.
by the regulating,; ircillaosfe, was
tbeltrighhats
obfereentirsehrnowennt,, tbt7,s,
ale of ,71111Bissi", even in
This
cases where there had been no previous
conceded to an officer after twenty years' service.
valuable right has been still preserved, and the power
which it confers upon the officer not wealthy enough to
acellerate his promotion by purchase, to turn his past
service into ca ital a ears to be highly appreciated.
Lord Fitzroy Spome'rseptp,indeed, stated, that the first,

perhaps, to avail themselves of this privilege are those
who have been unfortunately long detained in au in-
ferior rank, hut t;ho. on at last attaining the superior
commission, cnnstantly apply soon after for permission
to sell out. It may be described as a boon on retire-
ment to the i.fficer who ells, not being possessed of for-
tune, and it is bcnctici:il to the public, as the wealthy
officers pay the cost of the retirement for those who
desire to realise the value of their past services.
When an officer has not purchased any of his com-
missions, the advantage to him of retirement by sale is
apparent. The real difficulty of the case, and it is
one which pressed upon us in the course of our exami-
nations, lies in the position of an officer, who, having
bought, and having moreover served with distinction
for a considerable time, deiires to retire by sale. On
permission being granted, he receives no more for his
commissions than they actually cost him, and conse-
quently he is in no way rewarded for his services. In
fact, if he shall have paid. the difference for restoration
to full-pay in the course of his services, he may, on re-
tirement by sale, actually suffer pecuniary loss.

it was suggested to us that it might be expedient
that the officer who had purchased, and served well,
should be allowed, when he retired by sale, some small
annuity from the public as a reward for his services.
But the objections to this proposal, as shown in the
examination of Sir Edward Blakeney, appeared to us
insuperable. It would make an invidious distinction,
as giving the wealthier officer, after his retirement from
the service, an annuity which was to be denied to the
poorer man; and we arc disposed to consider the earlier
possession of rank and command a sufficient compensa-
tion to the purchasing officer, and that, in selling,
he who has purchased, and he who has not, should be
treated alike.

It is, perhaps, expedient that we should report the
result of our inquiries into the system under which a
difference was allowed on an exchange from full pay to
half pay.

Tile-title to receive a difference on relinquishing a
full-pay for a half-pay commission was first established
by a regulation of 14th August, 1783.
The object of this regulation was not to give a greater
value to the full-pay commission than it previously bore,
but to enable an officer who, after long service, desired
to retire on half-pay, to realise a part of the value of his
commission on relinquishing a portion of his advantages
as a military officer.
It was, in effect, a partial sale of his commission.

The price was to be paid by the half-pay officer who
might be selected for the vacant appointment on full-
pay, and the transfer of the full•pay officer to the half-
pay was to be effected as an exchange, the one officer
giving for his full-pay appointment the difference, the
other receiving it.

It is not necessary to state the principles upon which
the rate of difference was originally calculated, since
they were not adhered to in the latest regulations upon
the subject, which were framed by a Board of General
Officers in 1821.
The rates of difference are as follow :
Cavalry. Infantry.
£ s. d. £

Cornet or Ensign —
Lieutenant
Captain
Major
_. _ _

Lieutenant- Colonel.. 1,533 0 0 1,314
There has been no term of service fixed which should
give an officer a claim to receive the difference. The
Duke of York was disposed to regard every officer who
had purchased as having a title, without much refer-
ence to the length of his service. But Lord Hill has
not considered it advantageous for the public service
that there should be this facility for the wealthy officer
to retire from active service retaining an annuity from
the public ; and accordingly no officer is allowed to re-
ceive this difference who has not rendered a fair portion
of military service. It may be said that no officer in
subaltern's rank, under 15 years full.pay service, is now
allowed to retire upon half-pay, receiving the difference,
and no captain under 18 years ; and even then the ser-
vice must have been such as to entitle the officer to the
indulgence from its character.
We entirely concur in the principle upon which the
claim to receive a difference is made dependent upon the
officer's service upon full-pay, and beg strongly to re-
commend that the limitation be strictly maintained.
Having examined, with the most careful and minute
attention, the whole system of army promotion and re-
tirement, and having placed before your Majesty our
views as to the alterations that appear to us expedient,
we ber, briefly to submit for your Majesty's gracious
consideration a proposal for one further boon to be
granted to the officers of your Majesty's army, to place
them on a footing with the officers of other branches of
the service. It is that they be relieved from the pay-
ment of fees on commissions.

We forbear to enter into any details upon this sub-
ject, inasmuch as these fees have frequently been under
consideration, and on every such occasion the committee
before which the inquiry wai conducted haiii-invari-
ably made it their recommendation that such fees may
be abolished. We refer more particularly to the- COm-
mittee of the House of Commons on army and navy
appointments in 1833, and the Committee appointed by
the Treasury in November, 1836, to inquire into the
fees and emoarments of public officer.
In their recommendation that these fen should be
abolished we most cordially concur, and beg to express
our earnest hope that your Majesty will be graciously
pleased to direct that a tax of this description, which is
exclusively levied on the officers of your Majesty's
army, may be henceforth remitted.
In the course cf our discussion of the various matters
which it might be desirable to bring under your Majes-
ty's notice in relation to this branch of the service, the
position of the officers doing the arduous duty of regi-
mental adjutant attracted our attention. At present
the adjutant of infantry has 83 Gd., and the adjutant of
cavalry 10s. a day. In the former case the remunera-
tion for this duty is an addition of 33. 3d. a day to an
ensign, and of 2s. a day to a lieutenant, diminishing to
Is. a day when the lieutenant has completed seven years'
service. In the cavalry it is an addition of 2s. a day to
a cornet, and reduced to Is. when that cornet obtains a
lieuterhwtey. We consider that the officer ought to
',Ave the lull advantages of his regimental rank, with a
special .allowance for his duties as adjutant ; and we are
disposed to sui4.Tcst that this special remuneration for
adjutant's duty &mold be '2s. Gd. a day in the cavalry ;
but as the inf Iraq officer is compelled to keep a horse
for the discharge of these duties, it appears to us that
there would be a sufficient rea,•on for fixing the remu-
neration for adjutant's service at a scale proportioned to
the expense lie incurs on this account, which in his case
is not provided for by his pay, whereas the cavalry ad-
jutant, as a subaltern of the regiment, would be com-
pelled to maintain a horse, were it only for subaltern's
duty ; and the exp,tise thereof is calculated in the pay
assigned to him. We suggest, therefore, that the sub-
altern of infantry, doing duty as regimental adjutant•
should have an addition of 33. Gd. a day.

Under the scale we propose the minimum pay of an
Adjutant of infantry will be Bs. 9J., and the maximum
115. a day ; of an Adjutant of cavalry the minimum
will be 103.6 d., and the maximum L Is. 6d. a day ; and
we are perfectly satisfied that the improvement we
suggest will have the best effect on the efficiency of the
service.

It only remains for us to place before your Majesty
the several conclusions at which we have arrived in
respect to this btanch of your Majesty's service.
1. Tuat it would be expedient to revise entirely the
establishment of retired full-pay prescribed by the war-
rant of i.):2(1 July 1830, so as to afford retirement to a
larger number of Field-Officers and Captains than aro
provided for by that re2ulation.

2. That, v‘itii a view to promote the efficiency of the
service, and to afford a better provision in retirement
for Field-Officers and Captains now in active employ-
ment, but whwe health may be impaired by a prolonged
term of colonial service, it is expedient that so much of
the warrant of -22 d July, 183 Q, as imposes a restriction
upon the grant of retired full-pay, till the present amount
of the charge be reduced below 40,0001. a-year, be
rescinded, and that the General Commanding-in-Chief
should be empowered to recommend officers for re-
tired full-pay in such vacancies as the proposed new es•
tablishment may permit ; officers now on the retired
list of the ranks not included in the new scale to be
considered as supernumeraries.

3. That, with a view to afford the eisbeexttedritepinireto4vtiohsa:ootnotoholef.
ri butionpeof'
fretirementb
be
etriemi n
pecornnt.e un iepnita tdeids
t,
a year which has been fixed as the maximum amount of
full-paytena
nfto-rcthe
naeriny
si
a;-17s. a-day.
r t2i roe dLiue
-adta yla.3sn. u7mdb. r
a,
dn
yt exceeding
n4i
nsg,
m a2iy
5b
Captains,lba jr oe ry s e
ta tofaj 165.0 r
whomas
e
a
Captains receiving lls. 7d. a-day.
But it is not proposed that any increased pay should
be given to the Captains now on the retired list, unless
it be specially recommended by the General Command-
ing-in-Chief, that any Captain receiving a lower rate of
retired pay be transferred to the new scale. The
annual cost of this establishment not to exceed 38,0001.
2,000/. a.year be distributed in
4. That the remainiug
sums of 100/, a-year to twenty Lieutenant-Colonels
upon half-pay, holding the Brevet rank of Colonel, who
have retir-d or may retire to half-pay after thirty years'
service upon full-pay'. But this additional rate is not
recommended for any officer who shall have received the
difference when he retired upon half-pay, as the officer
to whom this additional allowance may be granted
will retain his claims to 'advancement in the service.
5. That the attention of the Commission has been
directed to the Report of the Committee of the House
of Commons in 1833, upon army and navy appoint-
ments, containing an earnest recommendation that all
fees on army commissions should be abolished, the fees
on commissions of officers of the navy having been
abolished by Order in Council of the 12th of October,
1832.
They have also had reference to two Reports from
the
~sr,Committee appointed by the Treasury in Novem- I
ge7art.eid'a:6-;ndto, :irisqttiiiiere;_into the fees and emoluments of
public u, „es, in which the same recommendation is re-
peated
has been carriedundinertostand that this recommen-
,:•frect by the Board of
Treasury as far as regards the departments tb? cu.