§ MR. KEARLEY (Devonport)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the Admiralty have considered, or will do so, the necessity of exercising the discretionary power given them under the 2nd Section of Act 47 & 48 Vict. c. 32, in order that the widows and orphans and dependent relatives of those noncommissioned offices and petty officers and men of the Royal Navy who have lost their lives through the foundering of H.M.S. Victoria may be awarded pensions and allowances in excess of the customary scale as tabulated under Chapter LV., Paragraph 2094, Section 3, of the Queen's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions, 1887?
§ MR. MACFARLANE (Argyll)May I ask whether there is anything in the circumstances connected with the loss of life in the Victoria which would justify the granting of larger pensions than are given in the case of sailors or soldiers who fall in battle?
§ CAPTAIN BETHELL (York, E. R., Holderness)I should like to point out, by way of caution to the Admiralty, that seamen and marines are constantly dying in all parts of the world in the execution of their duty, and that their families are as much entitled to consideration as those of the men who went down in the Victoria. Difficulties in connection with this matter arose in the case of the Captain, and I would ask the Admiralty before coming to any definite decision to consider the matter carefully.
§ THE CIVIL LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Mr. E. ROBERTSON, Dundee)The subject raised by the supplementary questions will, no doubt, be taken into consideration. The Admiralty will be prepared to exercise the discretionary power vested in them should the circumstances of any case appear to warrant the granting of an allowance in excess of the ordinary scale.