§ SIR GEORGE DOUGHTY (Great Grimsby)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War how many Crimean War and Indian Mutiny veterans are inmates of workhouses, and how many are in receipt of out-door relief; what are the maximum and minimum pensions given to such pensioners; and whether he will consider the advisability of arranging that old soldiers who have merited a pension and whose infirmities or age prevents them following any occupation should be awarded such an allowance as will prevent them applying for poor law relief, or being wholly or in part dependent upon charity.
§ MR. HALDANEWith regard to the first clause of the Question, the information asked for is not in my possession; as regards the second clause, the minimum pension to those in necessitous circumstances is 9d. a day, which is increased to 1s. a day when the veteran reaches the age of seventy. Moreover, when the veterans have been wounded or discharged for disability or are suffering from a disability due to military service, these pensions are raised to 1s. 6d. a day for a private, 2s. for a corporal, and 2s. 6d. for a sergeant. The 737 provision made for these old soldiers appears to me to meet the necessities of the case.