§ 61. Sir R. THOMASasked the Pensions Minister whether he will make allowance in respect of the wife and children of disabled men who have married subsequently to the receipt of disablement pay?
§ 62. Mr. WADDINGTONasked the Pensions Minister if he proposes to reconsider the granting of pensions or allowances to wives and dependants of ex-soldiers where the marriage takes place subsequent to discharge and the ex-soldier is suffering from a complaint contracted in Army service, and is in receipt of a pension and dies from the same complaint and the pension then ceases, leaving a widow and child without means of subsistence; and, having regard that death is caused by conditions of service, will he recommend these cases for pensions and allowances?
§ Sir J. CRAIGThe principle of the Pensions Warrant is that the State compensates the soldier and accepts the liabilities he was under at the date of his injury. Wives of disabled men and widows of deceased men are not admitted to the pension list if they were married after the soldier's disablement, nor are children if they were born after his discharge. To remove these restrictions from the Warrant would involve a charge upon Public Funds which might reach £30,000,000 a year.