§ CAPTAIN NORTON (Newington, W.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the fact that the Special Campaign Pension of 9d. a day for all men who joined the Army before 1860 cannot be obtained by any man absolutely in employment, no matter how old or how broken in health he may be, he will consider the advisability of having the conditions altered so as to save respectable old soldiers from the necessity of becoming destitute in order to become eligible for the pension; and whether he can state how many destitutes have received the pension, and how many applicants have been debarred in consequence of having employment?
§ MR. BRODRICKThe Special Campaign Pensions, being of a compassionate character, are not given to men who are fully able to maintain themselves; but since August, 1895, necessitous circumstances have been accepted as a qualification instead of destitution. Therefore an old soldier, otherwise eligible, is not debarred from a pension by the mere fact of having employment, if his earnings are insufficient for his maintenance.