§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEsaid, he wished to ask the noble Lord the Secretary to the Board of Admiralty, Whether it is true that certain dockyard labourers have been refused superannuation, and on what grounds that refusal has been given? He also wished to know what steps the Board of Admiralty have taken since the passing of the Superannuation Act last Session, to place the admission of labourers on such a footing as to secure for those permanently employed the benefits which the Act intended to confer upon them.
§ LORD CLARENCE PAGETsaid, it was true that seven dockyard labourers had been discharged without receiving superannuation. The Act of 1859 did not give retiring allowances to those who were not previously entitled to it, and the ordinary labourers in dockyards had not been entitled to superannuation since 1833. The Admiralty had no intention of proposing any alteration of the law.