§ CAPTAIN NORTON (Newington, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of the Treasury, whether, in view of the fact that the granting of retired pay to an officer represents the conclusion of a bargain between an officer and the service he has 178 left, in view, further, of the fact that the amount received by the Treasury from deductions made from the pay of retired officers of the Army and Navy employed in the Civil Service is so comparatively small, amounting to some £3,600 a year, he will secure officers in the possession of what is admittedly their own, and allow them to hold, without deduction from the salary, any appointments they may be fortunate enough to obtain in the Civil Service; and, whether he is aware that the deductions made from the pay of officers retired from the Army or Navy who are employed in the Civil Service, compared with the total amount received of effective and non-effective pay, vary from 90 per cent. to about 2 per cent.
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. R. W. HANBURY,) PrestonI have already explained that any change in the present practice would require fresh legislation. I cannot find any instance in which the amount of deduction approaches 90 per cent. The usual deduction is 10 per cent. The deduction of (roughly) 2 per cent. to which the hon. Member refers is explained by the fact that, under Rule 4, the total emoluments of an officer may not be reduced by abatement to less than £400 per annum.