384 COMMISSION DEL CREDERE 



COMMODORE 



Majesty's naval and military service, and in the 

 London division alone there are 1200 men. They 

 can be engaged by the day or any other period, 

 and for any duty where honesty, sobriety, and in- 

 telligence are required. The wages range from 

 twenty to forty shillings per week. 



Commission del Cre'dere". See DEL CRE- 

 DERE COMMISSION. 



Commissioners of Snpply. See SUPPLY. 



Commissions, ARMY, are warrants from the 

 head of the state for holding various military 

 offices, whether combatant or non-combatant. 

 The latter class comprises the various departments 

 of the army, such as chaplains, commissariat, trans- 

 port, veterinary, ordnance store, &c., in which, so 

 far as the British army is concerned, commissions, 

 carrying honorary or relative military rank, are 

 obtained by direct examination, by nomination 

 coupled with special professional qualifications, or 

 by transfer from other branches of the service. 

 Candidates for the Medical Staff (q.v.) pass through 

 ;a course of instruction at the Army Medical School 

 attached to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, 

 before being commissioned as surgeons. As regards 

 the combatant officers, a first commission as sub- 

 lieutenant can be obtained by any British sub- 

 ject of proper age, character, and physical qualifi- 

 cations, either by entering one of the Military 

 Schools (q.v.) as a Cadet (q.v.), or by passing both 

 .a literary and a military examination (similar to 

 that mentioned below for a lieutenant's promotion ), 

 after having served two trainings as an officer in 

 the militia. All correspondence regarding first 

 commissions or cadetships is conducted by the 

 military secretary at the War Office. Commissions 

 in the Royal Marines are obtained by direct com- 

 petitive examination. Two or three sub-lieuten- 

 ants' commissions are given each year to cadets 

 from the Royal Military College of Canada. It 

 is also possible to obtain such a commission by 

 enlisting ; but only two or three specially selected 

 sergeants are promoted each year to the rank of 

 sub-lieutenant in the cavalry and infantry (135 

 officers now serving have risen from the ranks), 

 though all quartermasters, riding-masters, or 

 officers of the Coast Brigade Royal Artillery, 

 and Coast Battalion Royal Engineers, are com- 

 missioned, as lieutenants, from the ranks. 



Subsequent commissions up to that of lieuten- 

 ant-colonel are given, as vacancies occur, to the 

 senior officer of the next lower rank, provided 

 that he has been favourably reported on, and, in 

 the case of a lieutenant or captain, has passed an 

 examination for promotion in regimental duties, 

 drill, fortification, tactics, military law, and topo- 

 graphy. To assist officers in passing this test, a 

 deputy-assistant adjutant-general for instruction is 

 appointed to the staff of each military district, and 

 classes are held under him for the study of the 

 four last-mentioned subjects. The rank of colonel 

 is only conferred by Brevet (q.v.) for distinguished 

 service, or on appointment to certain positions 

 carrying that rank, such as aide-de-camp to the 

 Queen, assistant adjutant-general, or commander 

 of a regimental district. Promotion to major- 

 general, lieutenant-general, and general, is by 

 selection, as vacancies occur. The establishment 

 in these ranks has been much reduced, and only 

 those who are eminently qualified, professionally 

 and physically, are eligible for commissions in 

 them. 



Previous to 1st November 1871 all combatant 

 commissions were purchased, except in the Royal 

 Artillery, Engineers, and Marines, and a few given 

 as prizes to those cadets who passed out of the 

 Royal Military College at the head of the list. It 

 was then also possible to qualify for a commission 



by purchase, by passing a direct non-competitive 

 examination. The lowest price of a first commis- 

 sion in the line was 450, the highest (in the Life 

 Guards) was 1260. Large sums had also to be 

 paid for each step in rank, so that the interest of 

 the money thus invested sometimes exceeded the 

 pay of the rank. 



The entire abolition of the purchase system 

 (by royal warrant in 1871) has at the same time 

 increased the actual value of commissions as a 

 means of livelihood, and the number of those 

 who are in a position to compete for them. The 

 competition has in consequence become very severe 

 at the examinations, which are held usually twice 

 a year, for admission to the two military colleges 

 and for militia candidates for army commissions. 

 To meet this, a large number of special educa- 

 tional establishments have been formed, devoted 

 entirely to the work of preparing candidates for 

 these tests, and most of the large schools have 

 special army classes. The expenses thus entailed 

 are often not much less than the cost of a first 

 commission under the purchase system, but no 

 further payment is incurred by promotion. 



The subjects of examination for cadetships are 

 selected, so far as the number of marks allotted to 

 each is concerned, so as to encourage boys who 

 have received the usual classical education, to come 

 up direct from school without having to undergo a 

 course of cramming at a military tutor's, where the 

 influences are not always desirable. See CADET. 



Commissure, an anatomical term applied to 

 nervous connections between adjacent parts of the 

 nervous system. Though it is not always used in 

 quite the same way, the general signification of the 

 term, and the physiological import of the structure, 

 is that of a uniting bridge. See BRAIN, NERVOUS 

 SYSTEM. 



Commitment. See CRIMINAL LAW. 



Committee (Fr. comiU), a portion, generally 

 consisting of not less than three members, selected 

 from a more numerous body, to whom some special 

 act to be performed, or investigation to be made, 

 is committed. But though a committee usually 

 consists of several members of the body by which it 

 is appointed, it may consist of one member, or, 

 what is more frequent, of the whole of the members 

 acting in a different capacity from that which 

 usually belongs to them. For the committees of 

 parliament, whether 'select,' 'of the whole house,' 

 'grand,' or 'standing' committees, see PARLIA- 

 MENT. 



Commodore, in the royal navy, is a rank 

 intermediate between an admiral and a captain. 

 It is not permanent, but is bestowed for a time on 

 a captain. Usually a commodore commands more 

 ships than one, detached from a fleet on some 

 special service ; he hoists at that time a white 

 broad pennant, with a red cross, at the main if 

 a commodore of the first class, at the fore if of 

 the second class. A commodore is privileged to 

 have a commander under him in his ship, in the 

 same way as an admiral is privileged to have a 

 captain. The commodore, in matters of etiquette, 

 ranks with a brigadier-general in the army. When 

 in independent command, a commodore of the first 

 class receives 7, 10s. a day, and a commodore of 

 the second class about 4, 10s. 



Until 1862 the title of commodore, without any 

 commission as such, was given in the United 

 States navy to such captains as commanded, or 

 had commanded, a squadron. In 1862 the rank 

 of commodore became a commissioned one. A 

 commodore ranks higher than a captain and lower 

 than a rear-admiral. His rank is assimilated to 

 that of a brigadier-general in the United States 

 army. 



