§ MR. BUTCHER (York)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been called to the case of Captain Judge, late of the 2nd Goorkhas, 39 who left England to join his regiment in September, 1897, and was killed inaction in the battle of Dargai; whether, if Captain Judge had lived, he would have completed his 20 years' service in January, 1898, and have been entitled to retire on a pension of £200 a year; whether Captain Judge left a widow and three children; whether it is customary, in the case of an officer killed in action, for his widow to receive a Queen's pension of £100 a year, and a gratuity equal to one year's pay of her husband, and for each child to receive a compassionate allowance and a gratuity equal to one third of a year's pay; whether the authorities have refused to grant the widow and children of Captain Judge any pension, allowance, or gratuity whatever; whether the authorities have also refused to refund the amount expended by Captain Judge for his passage money from England to India to join his regiment; and whether the Government will reconsider the case, and make such allowances and grants as will meet the requirements of the case?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIAThe facts are as stated in the first part of my honourable Friend's Question. Captain Judge rejoined his regiment from leave at his own expense, and, not having been recalled by the Government of India, was not entitled to refund or passage money. Mrs. Judge receives, as my honourable Friend is no doubt aware, a pension under the Service Family Pension Regulations. With regard to the additional pension and gratuities mentioned in my honourable Friend's Question, the Royal Warrant lays down certain rules as to the pecuniary position of those who can receive them, and the private circumstances of Captain Judge's family, independently of the Family Service Pension, are such as to render them ineligible under these rules.
§ MR. BUTCHERWill the noble lord request the Council of India to induce the authorities to refund the amount of the passage money which was expended by Captain Judge in going out to join his regiment? Can he not use his influence to secure a relaxation of this wretched rule as to the pecuniary position of an officer and his family?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIAThe Council of India have absolute control over this Question. The regulations have been in force for a long time, and I very much doubt whether the authorities will be disposed to relax them. As regards the payment of passage money, I quite admit that the existing regulations are not satisfactory, and I have caused a dispatch to be addressed to the Indian Government on the subject.
MR. T. M. HEALYAre British officers to understand that they are indebted to the British Treasury for the regulations?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIANo, Sir; the regulations have been in force for years, and they are based on the principle that people who are tolerably well-to-do shall not get as much as those who are not well-to-do.