§ Motion made, and Question proposed,
§ 8. "That a sum, not exceeding £4,096, be granted to His Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1917, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Registrar-General of Births, etc., in Scotland." [NOTE.—£3,000 has been voted on account.]
§ Mr. HOGGEOn page 151 there is a footnote which deals with the question of the wages of pensioner messengers. I am raising the point here because also on page 149 there is a similar footnote, and it states in each of the cases the amount of the Army pension that they are getting from Army Votes. In this case two of 1189 the pensioner messengers are in receipt of pensions of 1s. 1d. and 9½d. a day respectively from Army Votes, while a third receives a pension of 21s. from 12th June, 1916. I am very glad to see from these two Votes that the policy is being adopted of employing men who have been disabled, but that leads me to ask this question: The wages are put down at 24s. a week, and it says in the footnote that it will be recommended on a vacancy, and in that case the pension is 2s. 4d., whereas in the other case the salary is the same and the pension is 1s. 1½d. and 9½d. I suppoes it is the policy of the Scottish Office, so far as it can, to employ men of that kind in these positions, and in every case they have taken no advantage of the fact that the man has a pension in attempting to lower the standard wage which has in the past been paid for that work.
§ Mr. TENNANTI can assure my hon. Friend that it has been the policy of public Departments as a whole to employ, as far as possible, soldiers or sailors who have served their time in the service of the Crown. That has been the accepted policy of all the Departments for quite a considerable period. As regards the position of a pensioned soldier, speaking offhand without consultation, I should say that the question of his being in receipt of a pension ought not to debar him from the proper salary which ought to be given to him. I do not think there is any question of that.
§ Question put, and agreed to.