§ Colonel IVOR PHILIPPSasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the Greenwich Hospital Fund was originally reserved for sailors only; when was it extended to officers and warrant officers; and how many old sailors are now prevented from receiving the additional 5d. a day owing to such extension?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe primary object of the foundation of Greenwich Hospital, as stated in the Charter of 1694, was the relief and support of "seamen," but from the date of the opening of the hospital as an asylum for in-pensioners a considerable number of posts and offices of emolument were assigned to officers, and in 1806 (46 Geo. III., c. 100) the Commissioners were empowered to grant Greenwich Hospital out-pensions to officers who were not provided for in the Hospital. It would thus appear evident that at that time it was held that the term "seamen" used in the Charter did not exclude officers. The funds of the hospital wore assisted by contributions from men of the Royal Navy and the Merchant Service, and officers of the Royal Navy also contributed to the funds out of their prize-money, etc., from 1707 to 1829. The value of the emoluments received by officers at Greenwich Hospital just before the Act of 1865 amounted to £15,000 a year, and, therefore, on the closing of the hospital and the establishment of pensions in lieu of admission thereto, a proportion of the income of the institution was devoted to the provision of pensions for officers. The amount now allocated annually to benefits to officers is:—Greenwich Hospital pensions to officers, £7,700; Educational Grants to the children of officers, £1,500. £9,200 a year would provide 1,210 pensions of 5d. a day, but as the average cost of an age pension (owing to the number of increased age pensions at the higher rate of 9d. a day) is considerably in excess of 5d. a day, the actual number of age pensions which could be maintained for an additional £9,200 a year would be about 850.114W In view of the reasons for allocating a portion of the income of Greenwich Hospital to benefits to officers it would not, however, be correct to state that 850 men are being deprived of age pensions on this account.