first, to a deduction of the half-pay of the officers holding them, whereby the net receipt is reduced to 45657. 14s.*

There being no naval appointments analogous to the governorships of garrisons or colonelcies of regiments, these are the only professional honours or emoluments, unconnected with active duties, at the disposal of the Crown, for the reward of distin guished merit in the naval service.

The two first are venerable from their antiquity, and still more so from the names of those who have held them. They are distinctions immediately connected with the naval service, and have always been reckoned among the highest professional honours to which a naval officer could aspire.

The Committee, therefore, recommend that the situations of Vice Admiral and Rear-Admiral of England should remain on their present footing, the whole emoluments of both being together less than 8007. a year.

They do not, however, consider, that the same reasons exist for keeping up the Generals and Colonels of Marines, but that they may with propriety be abolished as they severally become vacant. In recommending this, however, they feel bound in justice to propose, that a sum equal in amount to the salaries of these appointments should be continued at the disposal of the Crown, for the reward of distinguished naval and marine services, subject to the same condition as the grant proposed to be made for the like purpose to the army, and that all pensions so granted should be tenable with the half-pay of the officer holding them.

The Committee beg leave, in conclusion, to express their anxious hope that no addition to the number of Flag-Officers in the Navy, any more than to that of General Officers in the Army, will in future be made, except upon very strong grounds of public necessity.

12th August, 1833.

The following individuals constituted the Committee:

Lord Viscount Ebrington, Lord John Russell, Sir Robert Peel, Sir Henry Har dinge, Mr. Abercromby, Sir Ronald Ferguson, Sir Alexander Hope, Mr. Wilbraham, Sir John Wrottesley, The O'Connor Don, Sir John Byng, Mr. Bonham Carter, Mr. Strickland, Mr. Morgan O'Connell, Mr. Hedworth Lambton, Sir James Graham, Mr. Ellice, Mr. Williams Wynn, Sir Henry Parnell, Mr. Pendarves, Mr. Hume, Colonel Davies, Mr. Fazakerley, Colonel Maberley, Sir John Sebright, Mr. Hawes, Mr. Carew, Admiral Fleming, Mr. Richard Oswald.

COMMUNICATION FROM THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO LORD HILL.

Strathfieldsaye, March 7.

In order to elucidate the question of the military Governments, it is necessary to consider the constitution of the British army, the establishments and mode of promotion of its Officers, particularly to the higher ranks, and the amount of their pay. I should wish to compare the real pay and establishments of Officers of the British army with the pay and establishments of Officers of other armies, and with the pay and establishments of the British navy; but I have not by me the means of stating accurately the amount of either of the latter.

The British army is one of which the officers obtain their commissions by purchase up to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel inclusive. This practice is so general as to be almost universal. It extends to at least three-fourths of all the officers appointed to fill commissions; and it would be universal if the King did not claim the right to dispose of the commission of an officer who is promoted without purchase, or who dies or is killed in his service; which commissions such officers, in three-fourths of the instances, had previously purchased.

The detailed effect of this purchase of commissions upon the payment of all officers for their service will be shown presently. It is obvious that in calculating the remuneration which any officer receives for his service, the amount of the interest which he loses upon the sum paid as the price of his commission must be taken into the account; it is a direct deduction from the pay of the officer. This fact must never be lost sight of; and it will be of great importance in the comparison between the amount of the pay and allowances of the officers of the British army and those of foreign armies, and those of the corresponding ranks of the British navy.

The promotion of an officer by purchase cannot be made after the rank of Lieut.Colonel; after having attained that rank, officers of the British army are usually

* Evidence of Mr. Barrow, 2086, and Return, p. 256.

promoted by brevet, or being made Aides-de-camp to the King, to the rank, but not to the pay, of Colonel, Major-General, Lieut.-General, General, Field Marshal.

No pay is attached to any of those ranks, according to the ordinary regulations of the service, unless the officer holding such rank should be appointed by his Majesty to be Colonel of a Regiment. In that case he has the pay of a Colonel, and the advantages derived from the contract to clothe and equip the regiment of which the Colonel holds the command.

At the close of the late war there was a deviation from the ordinary regulations, and in June, 1814, it was settled that Generals were to have pay as such, amounting£. 8. d.

Per diem, to
Lieutenant-Generals

Major-Generals

But in February, 1818, this rate of pay was restricted to 120 General Officers, at 17. 58. each per

diem.

The General Officers removed from regimental commissions in the Foot Guards were to be allowed as follows:

From being regimental Lieut.-Colonel, per annum

First Major 1st Regiment

First Major Coldstream and 3d Regiment

Senior Captains of Battalions

Other Captains

£800

900

800

700

550

500

This was altered by a subsequent warrant; and General Officers promoted from commissions in the Foot Guards now receive

Regimental Lieut.-Colonel, per annum
Regimental Major

Regimental Captains and Lieut.-Colonels

£600

550

400

If Colonels or General Officers of the army are specially employed on the staff, they are paid the staff allowances of such employment so long as they are so employed. Excepting the Colonels of regiments, and the 120 General Officers, who receive each 4567. per annum, and certain General Officers removed from their regimental commissions in the Foot Guards, there is no officer of the rank of Colonel, or of the different grades of General Officers, who receives any allowance excepting the half-pay or full-pay of the regimental commission of Lieut.-Colonel, or of the last regimental commission which he held previous to his promotion; which commission of Lieut.-Colonel or other he purchased in three instances out of four.

It must not be supposed that promotion of the Officers of the army by purchase is merely an abuse unauthorized and unknown to authority. It has prevailed, it is believed, since the wars of the Revolution *. The prices of commissions have been repeatedly regulated by his Majesty's orders; the last regulation was issued in the year 1821. In point of fact, the promotion of the Officers of the army by purchase is a saving of expense to the public, and highly beneficial to the service, although it falls severely upon individuals.

It is not the practice of the Officers at the head of the army to refuse to those desiring it the permission to sell their commissions which they have purchased; and many retire and are satisfied to live upon the interest of the purchase-mony of their commissions, or upon an annuity, without other provisión or reward for their services, having possibly lost their health in their King's service, and being no longer able to render the active and energetic services required from an Officer of the British army in all climates and situations.

Neither is it the practice of the Officers at the head of the army to refuse permission to sell their commissions to those under the rank of Colonels of regiments, who have served for twenty years, although they have not purchased their commissions.

These Officers would probably be bereft of all means of subsistence upon their retirement from the service, rendered necessary by their advanced age or their loss of health. They would endeavour to remain in (and could not be removed from their situations in the service) rather than expose themselves to want.

The permission to sell their commissions to younger, more active, healthy, and energetic and better qualified men relieves the service from a burden, at the same time that it throws none upon the state in the shape of remuneration, reward, or provision for men worn out by the length and arduous nature of the services required from all British Officers.

Not so; purchase commenced in the reign of Charles II., and has continued since.

It is the promotion by purchase which brings into the service men of fortune and education-men who have some connexion with the interests and fortunes of the country, besides the commission which they hold from his Majesty. It is this circumstance which exempts the British army from the character of being a mercenary army," and has rendered its employment, for nearly a century and a half, not only not inconsistent with the constitutional privileges of the country, but safe and beneficial. On the other hand, an examination of the detailed operation of the system of promotion by purchase, or the remuneration intended to be given by the public to the Officers of the army for their service, will show that those who purchase their commissions, which are certainly three-fourths of the whole number, receive but little for their service besides the honour of serving the King.

The following is a statement of the annual pay of the Officers of the Cavalry and Infantry of the British Army.

The Foot Guards having been the object of special regulation, the price of their commission and their pay is here stated:

The second column states the regulated price of the commission of each rank. The third the interest upon that sum, calculated at four per cent.

The fourth column shows the net annual reward of service of each rank, after deducting the interest of the purchase money.

Besides these sums, the Field Officers and Captains (Lieutenant-Colonels of the Foot Guards) receive certain allowances from the stock purse.

It must be observed, that the loss in column three is not the only one to which the Officer who has purchased is, or his friends are, liable.

He is besides liable to the loss of the whole purchase-money for his commission, if he should be promoted to be Colonel of a regiment; to receive 17. 5s. per diem as a Major-General under the regulation of 1818; or if an Officer of the Foot Guards, he should be promoted to be a Major-General, be removed from his regiment, and

* In making out this statement, the allowance for paying a company, repair of arms, mess allowance (fifty guineas a year), to the actual commanding officer of the regiment, are not included. They do no more than provide for the charges; and do not belong, some of them, to the officer not present with his regiment.

The above two notes are, it is presumed, inserted by authority of the Committee.-ED.

receive the allowance under the warrant applicable to that branch of the service; or his friends will lose the purchase-money if the Officer should die or be killed in his Majesty's service.

Let us now see in what manner this system of promotion by purchase affects the situation of the General Officers in his Majesty's service.

Of these there are 456, besides the Generals of the Marine Forces and of the corps of Artillery and Engineers, in which the system of promotion by purchase does not exist. Of these 456 General Officers there are 138 who are Colonels of regiments, to whose situation I will advert presently; 120 receive 17. 5s. per diem., or 4567. 5s. per annum. The others, 198 in number, receive either the allowance under the warrant appli cable to the Foot Guards, or their pay or half-pay as Lieutenant-Colonels of cavalry or infantry, or as holding any other regimental commission when promoted by brevet to be Major-Generals.

I will suppose them all to be Lieutenant-Colonels of cavalry or infantry.

Those who receive 4567.5s. if they served in the cavalry, paid for their commissions 6175, of which sum the interest at 4 per cent, is 2477. They therefore now receive a net 2097. 5s. for their service.

If they served in the infantry of the line, they paid for their commissions 4,5007, of which sum the interest at 4 per cent. is 1801. They receive as a reward for their services 2767. per annum.

The General Officers who were regimental Lieutenant-Colonels of the regiments of Foot Guards receive, under the warrant as General Officers, 6007. per annum.

They paid for their commissions 9000/., which sum, at 4 per cent. interest, would produce 3007-consequently these Officers receive 2407. per annum for their services. Those who were Regimental Majors of the Foot Guards paid for their commissions 8300, of which the interest at 4 per cent. is 3321. They receive under the warrant 550%-consequently the net reward of their services is 2197. per annum.

Those who were Captains and Lieutenant-Colonels of the Foot-Guards receive 4007. per annum as General-Officers. They paid for their commissions as Captains (Lieut.-Colonels) in the Guards, 4,800., of which sum the interest at 4 per cent. is 192.; consequently, they receive 2087. per annum as the reward of their services.

Those General-Officers who were Lieutenant-Colonels of cavalry, and paid for their commissions 61757., of which sum the interest at 4 per cent. amounts to 2477, receive 1727. 13s. per annum as the reward for their services.

Those who were Lieutenant-Colonels of regiments of infantry, and who paid 45007. for their commissions, of which sum the interest, at 4 per cent., is 1801. receive as the reward of their service 1357. 5s.

I believe that, according to the regulations and practice of the service, those GeneralOfficers who receive only the pay of Lieutenant-Colonels of cavalry or infantry might be permitted to sell their commissions, and to retire altogether from the service, and be succeeded by officers unattached, notwithstanding that this arrangement would burden the public with the payment of an annuity to a young man instead of to an old one.

But those 120 General-Officers who receive 4567. 5s. per annum, and who have paid 61757. for their commissions in the cavalry, or 45007. for their commissions in the infantry, and the regimental Lieutenant-Colonels of the Foot-Guards, who receive 6007. per annum, and have paid 90007. for their commissions, and the regimental Majors of the Foot-Guards, who have paid 83007. for their commissions, and receive 5007. per annum, and the regimental Captains and Lieutenant-Colonels of the Guards, who have paid 48007. for their commissions, and receive 4007. per annum, cannot retire from the service by sale of their commissions.

They receive from the public an annuity for which they have sacrificed a capital larger than any that could be required from them, either by the public or any annuity office, for the same annuity.

I now come to the 138 General Officers who are Colonels of regiments of cavalry or of infantry.

These are the favoured of the service.

The Colonels of regiments of cavalry receive about 14007. per annum, including their pay, 4997. 4s. as Colonels; the overplus being the profits of the contract for clothing and equipping their several regiments.

Those who are Colonels of regiments of infantry receive about 11007. per annum, including their pay, as Colonels, 4107. 12s. 6d. per annum; the overplus being the profits on the contract for clothing and equipping the regiments of which they are severally Colonels.

But let it be considered how the Officers stand.

They have purchased their commissions, those of the cavalry for 61757, those of the infantry for 4500%, those of the Foot Guards for still larger sums.

Being Colonels of regiments, they cannot be allowed to sell out; their money is sunk in the service, and lost to them and their families for ever.

An officer can scarcely attain the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel under from twelve to twenty years' service; and he then pays 61757. or 4500/. for his commission.

He will serve from fourteen to twenty years more before he shall be promoted to be Colonel of a regiment, and to receive this advantage of 14007. or 11007. per annum. Putting out of the question the advances which he shall have made for his commissions in the service till he shall have attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, it is surely reasonable to consider of his pecuniary sacrifices from the moment at which he shall have attained that rank by purchase till he is appointed Colonel of a regiment. I will suppose the length of the period to be twenty years, the price paid for the Lieutenant-Colonelcy to be 61757., and the interest of money to be, as it was heretofore, 5 per cent.

Supposing the Lieutenant-Colonel to live upon his pay, as he must have done, the purchase-money would have doubled in fourteen years, and it would be nearly half more at the end of twenty years.

Thus, then, this officer is rewarded at the termination of from thirty to thirty-five years' service with the command of a regiment of cavalry, which gives him a lifeannuity of 14004. per annum, for which he has made the sacrifice of 15,000.

A Colonel of infantry of the line, having purchased his Lieutenant-Colonelcy for 45007. having lived upon his pay, upon similar calculations, has sacrificed 12,500.; and the appointment of Colonel of a regiment of infantry will give him an annuity for h's life of 11007. per annum.

It may be said that officers are promoted to be Colonels of regiments in a shorter period of time than twenty years. Some may be; others are a longer period. Twenty years from the date of the commission of Lieutenant-Colonel is about the average. But there is another view of the subject which ought to be taken into consideration, -the case of officers who pay more than the regulated price for their commissions of Lieutenant-Colonel, of whom there have been hundreds of instances.

The writer of this paper knows of one who paid 6000 guineas for his LieutenantColonelcy of a regiment of infantry. He received the Order of the Bath (which is now the Grand Cross) before he was promoted to be Colonel of a regiment of infantry of the line at the end of twelve years after his promotion to be Lieutenant-Colonel. During that time he served upon his pay.

He surely is entitled to carry to the account of the sacrifices which he made in order to render his service the accumulation on the purchase-money of his commission of Lieutenant-Colonel, at least, till he was promoted to be Colonel of a regiment.

If he had been promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel without purchase, as he might have been, in his Majesty's Army, or as he would have been in any other service, or as he would have been in the corresponding rank in the Navy, and had equally lived upon the pay of his rank, he would have had in his pocket the purchase-money of his Lieutenant-Colonelcy, and the accumulation of interest upon that sum, at the moment he was promoted to be a Colonel of a regiment.

But supposing the reward of this officer's service to be 11007. per annum, it is obvious that he had paid 6000 guineas twelve years before; and, even if nothing else is taken into consideration, it will be admitted that the reward, even in this most favoured case, was not extravagant, considering what is given in other services, in the British Navy, and the rewards for exertions and service in other professions.

It may be supposed that the profits of the Colonels of regiments of cavalry and infantry have been understated. No such intention exists. The folly of any misrepresentation upon such a subject is obvious.

It is much more probable that the profits will be overstated by those who think the army overpaid for their services; at least till the time shall come when it may be thought expedient to alter the mode of paying the Colonels of regiments, and of supplying the army with its clothing and equipments as a measure of economy.

I will not now advert to this scheme further than to request those who consider of it to advert to the increase of the expense of the two regiments of Life Guards, since they have been clothed and equipped under the superintendence of the War Office, instead of by contract with the Colonels of those regiments.

Having now discussed the constitution of the British Army, the nature of the promotion of its officers, and their ordinary pay and rewards, it is desirable to advert to what their service really is.

From the moment at which the officer enters his Majesty's service, till he attains the rank of General Officer, he must be prepared to serve in all climates, in all seasons, in all situations, and under every possible difficulty and disadvantage.