§ MR. PULESTONasked the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether the question of increased retiring allowance to the hired workmen in Her Majesty's Dockyard can now be considered; whether he is aware of the disadvantages and hardships under which they labor under the present system by being too old to be placed on the Establishment and discharged at an age when unfitted for private employment; and, whether a more nearly equal basis with established workmen in the various branches of Her Majesty's Service cannot be adopted?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANSir, the question of retiring allowance or gratuity to hired workmen on discharge was considered in 1876, when a new and improved scale was adopted, and there is no present intention of reconsidering it. As to the comparative advantages of established and non-established men, it is, of course, a matter of opinion what constitutes a precise balance; but it is believed that those advantages are pretty fairly distributed at present.