§ MR. W. WHITELAW (Perth)I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland whether he recently recommended the Treasury to grant a gratuity to Mr. Nicol McNicoll for saving from drowning at great risk to his own life and handing over to the police an escaped convict; and, if so, on what grounds the Treasury refused to bestow the gratuity?
§ SIR G. TREVELYANYes, Sir; I put forward the claim referred to upon the recommendation of the Prison Commissioners, but the Treasury did not consider that the merits of the case justified the payment of a gratuity out of the public Exchequer.