Page:The supersession of the colonels of the Royal Army.djvu/18

 Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Sir Percy Herbert.

Mr. Grant Duff.

Sir John Hay.

Mr. Brand.

Sir Rainald Knightley.

Mr. Kirkman Hodgson.

Mr. Clay.

Mr. Sclater-Booth.

Sir Edward Colebrooke.

Mr. Goldney.

Sir Charles Wingfield.

Mr. Bourke.

Mr. West.

Major Anson.

Mr. Lowe represented the Treasury and Government generally. Mr. West was supposed to advise Mr. Lowe upon any legal points which might arise; Mr. Grant Duff and Sir Charles Wingfield represented the India Office and the interests of the Indian Officers, while Sir Percy Herbert and I represented the Officers of the Royal Army.

To our great surprise we found the Chancellor of the Exchequer much more favourable to us than we had expected. The Committee hardly required any evidence, being satisfied with that taken before the former Committees. Sir William Mansfield, General Egerton, and General Pears, the Military Secretary to the India Office, were briefly examined, and after two days' sitting, Sir Percy Herbert and I drew up our Report.

After shortly tracing the history of the supersession, and pointing out that the last Indian Colonel promoted had superseded no less than 279 Colonels on the British List, we recommended two courses, one to put a stop to supersession in the future, the other to make some amends to those who had suffered in the past. With regard to the former, we gave