The Sun.
London, England, 1840-04-29 00:00:00

(Concluded.)
NAVAL MEDICAL OFFICERS.

Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets,
Deputy-Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets,
Surgeon,
Assistant-Surgeon ;
the whole being liable to serve at sea or on shore, as
the benefit of the public service may require.
The Inspectors would include the whole of the "Phy-
sicians who are serving either in fleets or hospitals: ; and
as vacancies shall occur in the hospitals, where the pre.
sent Physicians are serving on salaries, we wouldl sug-
gest that they should be replaced by Inspectors om-daily
rates of pay.
The Deputy-Inspectors would in like manner lei dace
the Hospital Surgeons, or occupy such appointments as
might seem to be suitable for thorn either at sea or oon
shore.

The Surgeons and Assistant-Surgeons would retain
their presedt positions,
1 We should consider it essential that a certain period
of sea service should be rendered by each Surgei na be-
fore he shall be eligible for advancement to the rank of
Deputy-Lespector, and this term we are disposed to fix
at fix years.
The advantages which we anticipate from this classi4. -
fication of the Naval Medical Officers will be, that all
will be alike liable for service, at the discretion of the
' Board of Admiralty, and that there will be uniformity
and simplicity of system throughout the department.
It will entirely dtstroy any monopoly of the shore ;ap-
pointments, and will place all the officers on an equal
footing in regard to pay and retired pay, in relation to
the rank they may hold ; and it will have this further
advantage, that it will be necessary all should be effi-
cient and eqsal to apy duty either ashore or afloat.
We have also to recommend to your Majesty that:
the rates of pay and half-pay, of the Surgeons and
;Assistant-Surgeons should be increased, to place them.
in a position more analagous to the Medical Officers of
the Army. But we do not consider that these rates should
lie granted to the officers now upon half-pay, nor to those
who may hereafter be appointed to full-pay, except
after such further term of service as the Board of Ad-
miralty may think proper to establish.
We offer no suggestion as to the appointment of
P;)ysician General to the Navy, as the Chief of die
Medical Department may boar such title as the Board
of Admiralty may consider it expedient to give him.
We submit the follo..ving conclusions upon the Me-
dical .a;partmenis of the Army and Navy for your
Majesty's gracious consideration 7
ALIMY MEDICAL OFFICERS.—I. That it is not ex-
pedient to alter the existing rules with respect to the
' promotion of Medical Officers of the Army, for the
purpose of faciiitating promotion upon half-pay or by
Brevet.
2. That to extend the means of promotion upon
full-pay, it is expedient to make the following
changes :-
Ist.. To abolish the rank of Assistant-Inspector.
2d. To give to Staff-Surgeons the pay and the half-
pay, and, the comparative rank with other officers of
the Army, now enjoyed by Assistant-Inspectors ;
making also the rank of Staff-Surgeon the regular in-
termediata step from that of Regimental Surgeon to
that of Deputy-Inspector.
3d. To divide the Assistant Staff-Surgeons into two
classes, allowing the first class the rank and pay o.
Regimental Surgeons.

- - -
:5. That it is expedient to allow Medical Officers re-
Cring after twenty-five years' service, the advantage of
the reduced instead of the retired scale of half-pay.
4. That it be recommended to the Military Autho-
rities of the Army to consider of the means of giving
to the Medical Staff -Officers attached to an army in
the field, the services of a soldier servant, which shall
avoiii to weaken the ranks of the battalions or regi-
ments of the Army in the field.
a. That when not employed in the field, such Me-
dical Staff-Officers should receive, as compensation for
the services of a soldier, an allowance not exceeding Is.
a-de V.
NAVAL MEDICAL OFFICERS.--6. That it would be
expedient to place the Medical Officers of the Navy,
with resgeet to rank, pay, and additional pay for length
of servie6, and also with resprct to half-pay and retired
pay, on a scale more nearly correq.onding, to that as-
signed to Officers of the Army Medical Department
than the present.

7. 'What the following b estab!ished ,as the scale of
rank, pay, and halfpay for the Naval Medical Officers,
vii.

Full-pay perk H alf-pay
diem. I per diem.

Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets
Aftvr 10 years' service as such ......
Deputy lnspectfr of Hospitals and
("WiF1eet5...................................
th such further allowance, when
employed in Hospitals on shore, as!
the Board of Admiralty May think'
proper.)
SuArgbuect
service, elladiag service as Assistant-Sur-'
.................................
Above 10 years' do. do .............. Above 15 years' do. .................. '
Above 20 years' do. do. ...............
Above 25 years' do., with leave to
retire ................ .........
Alkpve 30 years' do., with leave tot
.retire ..................
Assistant-Surgeon
.................
AI love 3 years' fu 1-pay service ......I
If _serving in small vessels, under 101
gears'-full-pay service I
Above 10 years' full-pay service
If serviu: n small vessels
Itb4ove 20 years' ful -pay tery,ee I

. s.
11 (i
22 0 i

!.e. v. d.
0 13 0
1 1 0

1 0 0

0 Li 0

0 11 0

0 ii 0

o 12 0
o 14 o
O 14 0
O 18 0

O 6 0
O 7 0
O 8 0
0 10 0

018 0

0 13 0

0 18 0
0 7 0
0 7 6

0 15 0
0 2 0
0 3 0

O 8 0
o 9 o
O 10 0

0 4 6

0 5 0

BLit the benefit of artiew regulation, OM res-
pect, should not be extended to any Medical Officer
pawn ,

GENE-RAL REPORT OF COMMIS-
SIONERS FOR INQUIRY INTO NAVAL
AND MILITARY PROMOTION AND RE-
TIREMENT.

; With regard to the Naval Medical Officers, it is our
1. duty to report to 'your Majesty that the condition and
/prospects of this class of public servants are not suchas to afford due encouragement to the meritorious inpdi-
; viduals who are engaged in that department ; and from
the comparatively' small number of candidates who pre-
: sent themselves for Naval Medical appointments, -we
( think there is some reason to apprehend that, on an
emergency, there might be an iaadequata supply of pro-
f perly qualified persons to undertake those resport iible
duties which must devolve upon a Medical Offict:r in
any branch of the public service.
We observe that the qualifications of the Naval
candidate differ in no respect from those which the
1 Military candidate mint possess ; and we must therefore
look to the subsequent position of the Medical Officer,
for the reasons which have operated to render the Naval
Medical Service so much less popUlar than the 114ilitary.
i We do not think that this unfavourable differ trice is to
be fcund in a more limited prospect of promotion, as
1 . we have reason to believe that advancement i'ront the
rank of Assistant-Surgeon is more rapid in thep_Naval
I than in the Military MedieaLDepartment ; and -we feel
I assured that opportunities for individual distinct ion are
far more frequent in the Navy than in the Army..
Bat the great discouragement which oppresst 's the
l officers of the sea-Service, and which alone we s hould
consider to be a sufficient ground for the preferen. 2C ge-
nerally exhibited for the Military to the Naval M edical
Department, arises froM the distinction made ;bur tween
the value of their respective services as Assistarri :-Snr-
geons. In the Navy, to whatever length that &ervice
may be extended, the Assistant-Surgeon coun Ls but
three years of his time, while the Army Medical Officer
reckons, and justly reckons, the whole period of his
fail-pay service in that rank, in support of his future
claims to increased pay or retirement.
We earnestly recommend that, under your Mr qesty's
.authority, this invidious distinction may at once kr e re-
moved. It is not only unjust to the officer, but ii 1 our
opinion 'highly prejudicial -to the public service, it ce it
must have an appearance of rendering valueless apt y ex-
ertions which an Assistant-Surgeon -may make who
shall not obtain his promotion .rapidly ; and it may
therefore indispose him to give his best energies, • with-
out v:hiali his services might be fruitless, wh et i he
knows that the time devoted to active public duty , and
with increased skill, shal be of no avail to him hi any
future claim.
We have no hesitation in suggesting that the, total
full-pay service of the Naval Assistant-Surgeon , should
be allomed to reckon at its full value in support cif his
claims to increased pay or retirement, upon precis, ;fly the
same principle that is adopted in regard to the 1 ‘CMY
Officer.

In cur examination of the condition of this de as of
Naval Medical Officers, one point came under dii cus-
sion which has been adverted to in the evidi !nee,
namely, the possibility of removing the Assistant, Sur-
geons from the cock-pit to mess with the Licuten a nts ;
r but, upon full consideration, we found that there were
practical difficulties in the way of making any arr tene-
ment which could accomplish this in a satisfactor: r and
uniform manner in all classes of ships. N'Ve ascert rained
also that the accommodation afforded of late yea a-s to
this class of Medical Officers was so improved as to• ren-
der this removal less essential than it might have -been
at earlier periods of Naval economy ; and we are,
therefore, not prepared to make any recommendela a in
this respect.
With regard to the superior classes of Naval Med ;cal
Officers, we are fully disposed to recognise the propriety
of assimilating them in rank and even in title to th e of-
ficers of are Army Medical Department ; and as the
rank of Physician has been abolished in the Arm y for
nearly ten years, and in our previous report on that
division of the subject, we have suggested the di: :con-
tinuance of the rank of Assistant-Inspector, which was
substituted for the Physician, we should recomr nand
that the rack of Physician should be equally abolish ed
in the Naval Service ; end we make the same IN ;com-
mendation with regard to the Hospital-Assistant, which
has ceased to exist as a Military rank.
We contemplate the division of the Naval Me, Real
Officers into four classes only, under the folio• wing
titles :--