§ Order for Third Reading read.
§ MR. W. H. SMITH, in moving that the Bill be now read the third time, said, it would be impossible for the Government to accept the Amendment which had been placed on the Paper by his hon. Friend the Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Baillie Cochrane)—who was not now in his place—namely, to re-commit the Bill. The Bill was based on the principle that a superannuation should be based on the average of the last three years' salary of the officer about to be superannuated. No doubt cases of hardship might occasionally arise; but it would be better to deal with them in an exceptional manner, as the Treasury could do by laying a Minute before Parliament, stating the particulars, instead of altering the whole law, and allowing the Departments to deal with such cases in a way that might occasionally provoke remarks and cause injury to the public services.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed "That the Bill be now read the third time."—(Mr. W. E. Smith.)
§ Motion agreed to.
§ Bill read the third time, and passed.