§ MR. MARKHAM (Nottinghamshire, Mansfield)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to grant pensions to the widows, children, and dependants of officers and men who have fallen in South Africa, and also to those who are incapacitated from work by wounds or other causes, on a basis equivalent to that which the families of those officers and men were receiving before the loss of their relatives; and 1541 whether he has any information to the effect that the Government of the United States have, since 1865, adopted this principle by the unanimous wish of the American people.
§ MR. BRODRICKThe hon. Member has been misinformed in regard to pensions in the United States which are granted on the principle that the family receives the same pension as the husband or father would have been entitled to had he been totally disabled. The Government is not prepared to grant pensions on the lines suggested by the hon. Member.
§ MR. MARKHAMI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the pensions granted by His Majesty's Government to the relatives of those who have fallen in South Africa are barely sufficient, in the counties of Nottingham and Derby, to pay the house rents that prevail in these counties; and seeing that some of the widows of soldiers are now existing on charity, whether it is the intention of His Majesty's Government that these relatives should be dependent upon charity.
§ MR. BRODRICKI am not aware of the matters alluded to. The pensions granted were carefully considered and discussed in the House of Commons, and it would be impossible to vary them according to local circumstances.
§ MR. MARKHAMI should like to ask whether the right hon. Gentleman intends to carry out the unanimous resolution passed by this House last year with respect to pensions.
§ MR. BRODRICKI do not know to what resolution the hon. Gentleman alludes as to pensions, but we are acting on the resolution laid before the House and discussed by it.