CLAIMS OF INDIAN SURGEONS.

To the Right Honourable Lord Stanley, her Mgjesty's Principal Secretary of State for India.

The Humble Memorial of a Surgeon in Her Majesty's Madras Army, Respectfully Sheweth- That the constitution and organization of the Indian Army is such, that your memorialist is superseded by his juniors in all branches and depart- ments, Civil and Military, and when associated on duty with Medical Officers of her Majesty's English Army he is invariably superseded by them, his social as well as Military position being thereby materially affected.

2d. That-According to the present organization of her Majesty's Indian Army, Medical Officers have relative rank assigned to them as follows-

3d. That-By the Royal warrant of 1st October 1858, Medical Officers of her Majesty's English Army have relative ranks assigned to them, as follows-

lit. Assistant-Surgeons. on first appointment as Lieutenants.

2d.

Assistant-Surgeons after 6 years' service as Captains.

3d. Surgeons average less than 10 years . as Majors.

4th. Surgeon-Majors after 20 years' service as Lieut.-Colonels.

5th. Dep.-Inspectors-General after 5 years as such as Colonels.

6th. Inspector-General on appointment as Brigadier General.

Do. do

after 3 years as such

as Major General.

4th. That-By the present rate of promotion in her Majesty's Indian Medical Service, your Memorialist has no prospect of attaining the superior grade of Surgeon and relative rank of Captain, until after sixteen years' ser- vice, the average rate of promotion being in Bengal fourteen years, in Madras seventeen years, and in Bombay sixteen years' service.

5th. That-As will be observed by the following table, contrasting the average periods at which the grades of relative rank are attained by the Medical Staff of her Majesty's English and Indian Armies, your Me- morialist, by present Regulations, is now and will be, if he lives to attain the higher grades, superseded by many years by his juniors in her Majesty's English Army.

Table Contrasting the Rates of Promotion of Medical Officers in her Majesty's English and Indian Armies.

Her Majesty's English Army. Her Majesty's Indian Army.

Relative Army

Rank. • On first appointment on first appointment as Lieutenants.

;After 6 years after 16 years as Captains.

After 10 years after 30 years as Majors. - 20 years ,After Superintending-Surgeons. as Lieut.-Colonels.

, Deputy-Inspector-General I After 5 years as such Inspector-General as Colonel.

Inspector-General Director-General as Brigadier General.

lInspector-General I

After 3 years as such j (No equivalent rank in the Indian Army) as Major General.

6th. That-In all cases the principle has been invariably recognized and acted upon, of placing the Military Officers of her Majesty's English and Indian Armies on a footing of equality as regards rank, pay, honours, and other privileges, as is exemplified in the recent assimilation of the Artillery and Engineer Corps of both Armies, the promotion of Lieutenant-Colonels to the rank of Colonels after three years' command, and the step of honorary rank to all Officers on retirement.

7th. That-The Royal warrant of 1st October, 1858, has considerably im- proved the position, pay, and emoluments of the Meclieal Staff of her Ma-

hesty's English Army, and has also fixed shorter periods of service, and a igher scale of retiring allowances for them than is assigned, under present regulations, to the Medical Staff of her Majesty's Indian Army whose whole period of service is passed within the tropics ; the allowances in her Majesty's English Army being. regulated by rank, and in her Ma- Tsty's Indian Army by length of service only, as contrasted in the following Table- Retiring allowances to Medical Officers in her Majesty's English and Indian Armlets.

Her Majesty's English Army, as per Royal Warrant of 1st October, 1858. After

15 Years.

After

20 Years.

After

25 Years.

After

30 Years.

Inspector-Gen. Deputy-Inspec-

tor-General Surgeon-Major Surgeon

£ a, d.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 246 7 6 £ s. d.

547 10 0 383 5 0 301 2 6 0 0 0 £ a. d.

611 7 6 410 12 6 337 12 6 0 0 0 £ a. d.

684 7 6 465 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 0

Her Majesty's Indian Army retiring allow- antes, regulated by length of service only, without refer- ence to rank. After

17 Years.

After

21 Years.

After

25 Years.

After

29 Years.

After

32 Years.

After

35 Years.

£ a. d.

191 12 6

£ Z.'. d.

250 0 0

£ s. d.

300 0 0

£ a. d.

365 0 0 £ 8. d.

500 0 0

£ a. d.

700 0 0

So that the highest pension which a Medical Officer in her Majesty's Indian Army is entitled to after 29 years' service, is only 3651., although he may have attained the rank of Director-General, while in her Majesty's English Army, a Deputy Inspector after 25 years can claim 4101. 12s. 6d., and after 30 years 4651. 7s. 6d. per annum, and an Inspector-General after 25 years, 6111. 7.s. 6d., and after 30 years, 6841. 78. 6d. per annum.

8th. That-All other Officers of her Majesty's Indian Army and Navy are allowed the option of retiring either on the pension of their ranks after 22 years' service, or according to length of service, whichever may be more favourable to their individual eases ; no such option being allowed to Medi- cal Officers, an invidious distinction emphatically commented on by the late Governor-General of India.

9th. That-The injustice of this distinction is apparent from the fact that a Military Officer of the rank of Major or Lieutenant-Colonel can retire on the full pay of these ranks after only 22 years' service, while a Medical Officer, who..necessarily enters the service at a more advanced age, is obliged to serve 25 years for the equivalent of a Major's pay, and 29 years for that of Lieutenant-Colonel.

10th. That-Notwithstanding that Medical Officers are deprived of the privilege of retiring according to rank, the scale of their retiring pensions is much less favourable than is assigned to Military Officers by length of ser- vice, inasmuch as a Military Officer, as may be seen by the following table,

Assistant-Surgeons

Surgeons.

Senior Surgeons Superintending-Surgeons Inspector-General Director-General on first appointment average after 16 years • after 30 years from the date of their appointment as such 15t. 2d. 3d. 4th.

6th.

as Lieutenants.

as Captains.

as Majors: as Lieut.-Colonels.

as ColoneL as Brigadier General.

can retire on the pay of a Major four years after being entitled to that or a Captain, and on the pay of a Lieutenant-Colonel four years after being en- titled to that of a Major, while a Medical Officer has to serve eight years after being entitled to the pension of a Captain, before he can retire on the equivalent of that of a Major (instead of four), and twelve years be- fore he can retire on the pension of a Lieutenant-Colonel (instead of eight).

Medical Pensions. Military Pensions by

Medical Pensions if

Present scale by length length of service and

graduated proportionately

of service only. according to rank, to Military Pensions.

After 17 years £191 After 20 years £191 After 17 years £191 „ 21 „ 250 „ 24 „ 292 „ 21 „ 292 „ 25 „ 300 „ 28 „ 365 „ 25 ., 365

,, 29 14 365

„ 32 „ 456 „ 29 „ 456 „ 32 ,. 500 and the pay of their rank and the pay of their rank „ 35 „ 700

after 22 years' service.

after 19 years' service.

11th. That—Your Memorialist confidently trusts that in adjusting the rank, pay, and retiring allowances of Medical Officers of her Majesty's Indian Army, the same spirit of justice and liberality may be extended towards them as has been shown towards Medical Officers of her Majesty's English Army, and has been exemplified in assimilating the position of all Military Officers of her Majesty's English and Indian Armies, due considera- tion and weight being given to the more advanced age at which they enter the service, and the expensive nature of their preliminary professional edu- cation.

12th. That—The constitution of the Medical Department of her Majesty's Indian Army differs, however from that of her Majesty's English Army in many respects, more especialli in that many of its Members are employed by Government on Civil and Non-professional duties, similar to those of the Iiidian Civil Service, and those so employed do not attain any higher rank than that of Captain up to 30 years' service, and after that period that of Major, beyond which they can never attain higher rank should their service be prolonged to 40 years or upwards. 13th. Thai—All Members of the Indian Civil Service have relative ranks assigned to them after the following fixed periods of service, and are classi- fied as follows : Sixth Class

Fifth Class

on appointment

after 4 years' service as Lieutenants. as Captains.

Fourth Class

do. 8 do. do. as Majors.

Third Class do. 12 do. do. as Lieutenant-Colonels.

Second Class do. 20 do. do. as Colonels.

First Class do. 35 do. do. as Major-Generals.

14th. That—When Military Officers are employed in Civil or Non-pro- fessional duties, their progressive rank is not affected by being so employed, but advances in the same manner as if they had continued in the per- formance of Military duty, and consequently Medical Officers employed on the same Civil duty as Civilians and Military Officers, are not only su- perseded by them m the junior grades, but are completely debarred from the superior ranks assigned to all Civil and Military Officers however em- ployed.

15th. That—Your Memorialist begs most respectfully to be permitted to quote the words of the late Governor-General of India, on the subject of re- lative rank to Medical Officers and their supercession by all other branches of the public service. "It is impossible to conceive how such a system can

have been maintained so long on the strength of no better argument than that 'it has been' and therefore 'it ought to be.' It is impossible to imagine what serious justification can be offered for a system which in re- spect of external position postpones service to inexperience, cunning to ig- norance, age to youth, a system which gives a Subaltern, who is hardly free from his drill, precedence over his elder, who perhaps has served through any campaign for thirty years, a system which treats a Member of a learned profession, a man of ability, skill, and experience as inferior in po- sition to a Cornet of Cavalry just entering on the study of the Pay and Audit Regulations, a system, in fine, which thrusts down grey-headed Vete- rans below beardless boys."

16th. That—Your Memorialist in all deference and humility trusts that at a time when arrangements are being made for reconstructing all branches of her Majesty's Indian Army he is not exceeding a Memorialist's privi- leges in respectfully submitting for your Lordship's consideration the expe- diency of reconstructing the Medical Department of her Majesty's Indian Army, in such a manner as shall secure to all Medical Officers, after certain fixed periods of service, the same progressive grades of relative rank as are assigned by present regulations to all Officers of her Majesty's Indian, Civil, and Military Services, whether in. Civil or Military employ.

— Wherefore your Memorialist earnestly prays that your Lordship may be graciously pleased :—

First.—To take into consideration the subject of relative rank to Medical Officers of her Majesty's Indian Army, with the view of preventing their supercession by all other branches of the Public Service, and your Memori- alist with all deference submits for favourable consideration the following classification of the Medical Department of her Majesty's Indian Army, abolishing the present designations of Superintending, Senior, and Assistant- Surgeon, substituting that of Deputy Inspector-General (as in her Majesty's English Army) for Superintending Surgeon, and designating all Medical Officers as Surgeons of the let, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, or 6th Class as the case may be, according to their length of service as follows :— FIRST CLASS.—Surgeons after thirty years' service with rank as Brigadier-

Generals. • Sneown Crass.—Surgeons after twenty-four years' service with rank and pay as Colonels.

DIM) CLASS.—Surgeons after eighteen years' service with rank and pay as Lieutenant-Colonels.

Fornini CLAss.—Surgeons after twelve years' service with rank and pay as Majors. Frnra CLAss.—Surgeons after six years' service with rank and pay as Captains.

SIXTH CLASS.—Surgeons on first appointments with rank and pay as Lieu- tenants.

Deputy Inspectors-General to hold the rank of Colonels. Inspectors-General to hold the rank of Brigadier-Generals. The Director-General to hold the rank of Major-General.

Second.—To direct that the rules regarding precedence, honours, and all advantages, attaching to relative rank, as well as honorary rewards for meritorious or distinguished services, and an increase of Pay and Retiring Allowances, proportionate to that laid down in the Royal Warrant of 1st October, 1858, be made applicable to Medical Officers of her Majesty's In- dian Army, equally with those of her Majesty's English Army. So that your Memorialist's present position and future prospects may receive the same consideration as has been shown to, and is now enjoyed by, every Medical Officer in her Majesty's English Army.

And your Memorialist as in duty bound will ever pray.