§ MR. JEFFREYSI beg to ask the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he is aware that men who have served in the Army and then joined the Navy or Marines are allowed to count their military service towards the pension they receive on retiring from the Navy or Marines; whether men who have served in the Navy or Marines and then joined the Army are not allowed to count their former service towards a pension on retirement from the Army; and what reason is there for making such a difference in the pension regulations of the two Services?
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE WAR OFFICE (Mr. POWELL WILLIAMS,) Birmingham, S.Army service does not reckon towards naval pension except in the case of men who joined the Navy before 1st January, 1885. Service in the Navy or Royal Marines, in the case of men who joined the Army before 1st October, 1880, wholely, and in other cases up to a limit of four years, reckons towards Army pension.
§ MR. JEFFREYSWill the honourable Gentleman answer the last paragraph and say what is the reason for making a difference in the pension regulations of the two Services?
§ MR. POWELL WILLIAMSThere is little difference, as my honourable Friend sees, in the regulations as they apply to the two Services. It is not desirable to encourage men who have served a con- 1160 siderable time in the Navy to join the Army, because they are then at an undesirable age. Furthermore, the pensions of men who have served a considerable time in the Navy would be charged on the Army Vote, and it is not reasonable that this should be so when a man has served a large portion of his time in the Navy.