§ SIR CHARLES SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)To ask the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the money subscribed by the public to the Royal Patriotic Fund (after the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny) is not being distributed in accordance with the wishes of the subscribers; that the pensions of widows are limited to 7s. a week and the remainder hoarded; and what steps he proposes to take to remedy this state of things.
§ (Answered by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.) I am informed that there is no foundation of fact for the assumption of my hon. friend that the money subscribed by the public to the Patriotic Crimean War and Indian Mutiny Relief Funds is not being distributed in accordance with the wishes of the subscribers, or that the allowances to widows are limited to 7s. a week and the remainder hoarded. The administration of both funds involves a yearly expenditure far in excess of the incomes from invested funds, with the result that, so far from the funds being hoarded, they are steadily diminishing by thousands of pounds yearly. If my hon. friend will refer to the second Report of the Royal Patriotic Fund to the King, published as a Blue-Book, he will find that the expenditure of the Patriotic Russian War Fund for 1905 was£14,087, against an income of £4,607, and for the Indian Mutiny Relief Fund the expenditure was £2,429, against an 30 income of £743. The Indian Mutiny Relief Fund, in fact, was taken over by the Patriotic Fund authorities under an Order of the Court of Chancery only as recently as 1st January, 1903, because it had become insolvent under its previous management to the extent that its assets were deficient by upwards of £11,000 to enable the beneficiaries to continue in the enjoyment of their allowances at rates then existing. I am informed that by good and more economical management the deficiency of assets has since been reduced, but that there is still a deficiency of upwards of £4,000 which may have to be made good from the general funds of the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation. If my hon. friend will refer to paragraph 8 of the first report of the Corporation to the King he will find that the scale of allowances settled by the Corporation, after public discussion, at their annual general meeting in 1905, is considerably higher than the scale which he assumes, erroneously, is being issued to beneficiaries on funds raised by public subscription under the administration of the Corporation. I may add that if my hon. friend will refer to paragraph 9 of the second and latest Report of the Corporation he will find that, taking all the funds administered by the Corporation, the aggregate expenditure for 1905 was £72,394, against an aggregate income on all funds of £43,130. Therefore it follows that there is no policy of hoarding on the part of the Corporation in respect of any of their funds.