CAPTAIN FABER (Hampshire, Andover)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can recommend that any man who has served His Majesty, either in the Volunteer Navy or in the Territorial Army for a term of years shall be considered eligible for an old-age pension, so far as character is concerned, without any further inquiry.
(Answered by Mr. Lloyd-George.) There is no disqualification in respect of character except for actual criminality, and the only test for the purpose of which service in the forces of the Crown could in practice be taken into account is the industry test contained in paragraph (b) of Clause 3, subsection 1, of the Bill. The matter was carefully considered when that paragraph was drafted, but it did not appear to be possible to treat what would in many cases be only a short period of such service performed early in life as conclusive evidence of an applicant's industrial character, without any regard to his history during the subsequent period between his leaving the service and applying for a pension.