§ 100. Sir H. HARRISasked the Pension Minister whether he is aware that in the assessment of the alternative pensions of discharged men and widows of deceased men a man's long-service pension is not deemed to be earnings, although a Reservist's pay is so reckoned; and whether, seeing that a long-service pension has been earned by the man for services rendered to his country, he will explain why such pension should be treated as different from other earnings?
§ Sir A. GRIFFITH-BOSCAWENThe basis of the alternative pension is loss of earning capacity, the actual "earnings" being taken as the index of that capacity as existing before the War. A long-service pension is awarded in respect of past service and without reference to existing capacity, and therefore it cannot be taken into account in the assessment of an alternative pension. Reserve pay is in the nature of a retaining fee for service to be rendered in certain contingencies, and is thus on a different footing.