§ ADMIRAL MAYNE (Pembroke and Haverfordwest)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he has yet been able to overcome the "financial difficulties," which he has stated more than once he has experienced in obtaining from the Treasury the proceeds of mulcts, fines, unclaimed prize money, &c., in order to enable him to carry out, to some extent at least, the recommendations of the Duke of Edinburgh's Committee; and whether, since 472 the widows and orphans of the men lost in H.M.S. Serpenthad to appeal to public charity, he will consider the desirability of establishing a Naval Widows' and Orphans' Fund?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Lord G. HAMILTON, Middlesex, Ealing)It has been decided not to attempt to establish a General Widows' Fund on the lines proposed by the Duke of Edinburgh's Committee in 1885. The unclaimed wages and effects of deceased seamen and marines are now paid over to the funds of Greenwich Hospital. There are grave difficulties in the way of similarly appropriating mulcts, fines, and unclaimed prize money. There is a Naval Widows' and Orphans' Fund, from which the widows and orphans of all men whose deaths are directly due to the Service receive pensions. The widows and orphans of the men lost in H.M.S. Serpentare now being assisted from this source. The capitalised value of the annuities either paid or payable is about £24,000.