§ MR. HAY (Shoreditch, Hoxton)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether, in administering the estates of officers who have died on active 1552 service, it has been the practice of the War Office to delay payment of moneys due to their estates, or to demand a guarantee in respect thereof before payment, on account of the cost of carriage home of the deceased officers' baggage; and, if so, whether he will take measures to abolish a regulation which has caused much hardship to those dependent upon the proceeds of the deceased officers' estates.
LORD STANLEYThere has been no delay of payment arising from cost of conveyance of baggage home. Owing to a number of claims against officers for conveyance of excess baggage in South Africa, arrangements were made for retaining a balance of £5 from the estates of officers to meet any such claim. This arrangement ceased last December, and all cases have, so far as I am aware, been settled.