§ MR. MOND (Chester)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the case of Lieutenant F. Coplestone, retired owing to the loss of hearing in one ear caused by gunfire, who has been awarded the sum of £32 as compensation for the loss of the hearing of this ear; whether this is the usual amount of compensation paid for such an accident; and whether, in view of the inadequacy of the amount in relation to the injury sustained, he will consider the question of revising the sums payable in this and similar cases.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) This case has received the careful consideration of the Admiralty. Lieutenant Coplestone was invalided in October last for deafness and placed on the 966 retired list on half pay of 5s. a day. As the disability from which he suffered was probably an after result of concussion from gunfire, when he was serving as midshipman on H.M.S. "Hannibal," in 1901 (although this is not certain), his case was treated as for an injury received on duty, and he was medically surveyed in respect of the extent of the injury. This having been reported to be "not equal to the loss of a limb," the Admiralty have no power to grant more than the limit fixed by the regulations, viz., a gratuity of less than one year's full pay of an officer's rank at the time of the accident. Mr. Coplestone was accordingly awarded the most that he could receive, viz., a gratuity of 364 days pay as midshipman, and he was informed that if his deafness increased to a serious extent his case would be reconsidered on his presenting it. The Answer to the second part of the Question is in the affirmative, and it is not proposed to make any alteration in the regulations.