§ Lord CHARLES BERESFORDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that Henry Wood, lately 1726W serving in the Royal Marine Light Infantry as a bandsman, was removed to the Royal Naval Asylum at Yarmouth on the 23rd December, 1910; whether he is aware that the whole of this man's pension is being retained for his maintenance; that if the man had been sent to a borough asylum the whole of his pension would not have been kept back; and whether the Admiralty can see their way to making the man's wife and children an allowance while the man is an inmate of Yarmouth, Asylum?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe answer to the first and second parts of the Noble Lord's question is in the affirmative. If the man had been sent to a county or borough asylum, the guardians of the parish chargeable with the cost of his maintenance would have had the first claim on his pension, and as the cost of maintenance in such asylums invariably exceeds 1s. 1d. a day, the Guardians' claim would absorb the whole of the pension. With regard to the last part of the question, there is at present no evidence in the possession of the Admiralty affording sufficient grounds for the award of an allowance, but if it is desired, Mrs. Wood may apply to the Admiralty stating her circumstances, when the case will be further investigated.