HC Deb 31 October 1916 vol 86 cc1520-2
46. Mr. WING

asked the Prime Minister if he will authorise the calling together of the Select Committee which recommended the present allowances to soldiers' dependants for the purpose of reconsidering the raising of allowances to an amount which is equal with the increased cost of living, increased over 50 per cent, since such allowances were agreed upon?

Mr. BONAR LAW

I will consider this suggestion.

Mr. HOGGE

Is my right hon. Friend aware that this question has been asked over and over again, and that this is the first indication that the Cabinet will consider it? Is he further aware that, as a matter of fact, the people in receipt of these allowances are in a very desperate condition in many cases owing to the delay?

Mr. BONAR LAW

The answer of the Prime Minister is that it will be considered, and my belief is that it will be considered quickly and, I believe, favourably.

6. Mr. C. WASON

asked the Secretary of State for War if there is any possibility of affording some allowance to a boy whose father was killed in action unfortunately before a legal marriage was celebrated; and if, in consideration of this "question, he will make himself aware that marriage in Scotland is legal under certain circumstances without clergyman or registrar?

Mr. FORSTER

Yes, Sir. The absence of legal marriage may not be a bar, under certain conditions. Perhaps my hon. Friend will send me particulars of the case he has in mind.

6. Mr. C. WASON

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware of the hardship inflicted by the War Office Regulation as between soldiers who fell in battle and soldiers who, after most gallant service, died in this country from disease probably arising from hardships suffered in the trenches; and if he will consider the advisability of altering the Regulation?

Mr. FORSTER

My hon. Friend, I understand, refers to officers' widows. Their pensions were very fully considered by the Select Committee, and the present rules are in accordance with their views.

Mr. HOGGE

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the necessity in both cases is exactly the same?

6. Mr. COOTE

asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that Private William McCawley, of Beechvalley, Dungannon, attached to the 12th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, owing to a fall sustained such serious injuries that he was discharged from the Army as unfit for further service; that his pay has been stopped as from the 28th July; that since then he has received no pension; and what steps 'he will take to maintain this soldier, who is unable to earn his living?

Mr. FORSTER

Inquiries have been made, but the man cannot be traced. Perhaps my hon. Friend will let me know the man's regiment and regimental number.

106. Mr. ANDERSON

asked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether a widowed mother who was dependent on a soldier killed in action has any statutory right to a pension; if not, by which authority and upon what basis such a claim is settled; and whether he is aware of the public dissatisfaction with a system which settled the majority of such claims as a matter of favour and charity, not as a matter of right?

Mr. FORSTER

There is no statutory right to pensions from Army Funds; they are given under His Majesty's Warrant. That, as my hon. Friend will appreciate, completely removes from them any taint of favour and charity.

115. Captain BENNETT-GOLDNEY

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can say whether adequate steps have now been taken to prevent the delays which have continued to take place in the paying of pensions to many disabled soldiers and sailors who are rightly entitled to receive them?

Mr. FORSTER

As regards the payment of soldiers' pensions, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave on the 17th instant to the hon. and gallant Member for Wednesbury.