HC Deb 04 April 1870 vol 200 c1169
SIR CHARLES W. DILKE

said, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether, having regard to the circumstances attending the military Execution of the late Mr. G. W. Gordon, a Member of the Legislature of Jamaica, and to the injury done to the property of his widow, he is prepared to consider the justice of making some compensation to Mrs. Gordon for the grievous losses and sufferings she has sustained?

MR.GLADSTONE

With respect, Sir, to the military execution of Mr. G. W. Gordon, it will be remembered by the House that that matter was left in a condition in which the legal rights were never brought to a distinct and final issue. With respect to "the grievous losses and sufferings" Mrs. Gordon has sustained, as far as regards the injury done to the property of the widow, no evidence tending to prove, or sufficient to prove, either the nature or the extent of any such losses has been ever placed before me. Upon the whole matter, having given it the utmost and best consideration in my power, I do not think either that it would fall within the ordinary purview of the Civil List Pension Fund, or that the case is one in which it would be consistent, with the duty of the Government, to make an application to Parliament.