§ ADMIRAL ERSKINEasked the First Lord of the Admiralty, If it is to be understood that Officers of all ranks who have been or who shall be awarded good service pensions subsequently to the Regulations of 1872 are to be entitled to receive such pensions while on full pay, as was the case previous to 1870; and, if so, whether he will take into consideration the cases of those to whom good service pensions were awarded between 1870 and 1872, so as to place them on an equal footing with their more fortunate brother-officers?
§ MR. GOSCHEN,in reply, said, his hon. and gallant Friend did not understand him correctly if he understood that the Regulations applied to officers of all ranks. The Order in Council of 1872 applied to captains only. He would ask his hon. and gallant Friend to distinguish between the case of flag officers and captains. As regarded flag officers they were precisely in the position they were loft in by the Order in Council of 1871. The number of their good service pensions had not been reduced, nor had the tenure of them been altered. He should add that the Treasury were not at all interested in the suspension of the good service Pensions in the case of flag officers when on full pay. In the case of captains the tenure was changed, and they were allowed by the Order in Council of 1872 to hold their pensions on full pay; but that rule was not intended to come into force until there had been a certain reduction in numbers. However, he was prepared to make a considerable change, and to allow the benefit to come into operation from the let April this year.