§ Mr. FIELDasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the distress prevailing among a section of the pensioners of the general lighthouse authorities, owing to the increased cost of living over the pre-war rates on which their former pay and present pensions were calculated, who have been refused a war bonus; and if he will, in consequence, 1214W allocate a moiety of surplus moneys in the hands of the Board of Trade derived from light dues, ex gratia, to relieve this distress, the existence of which is officially admitted by the Lights Boards of the United Kingdom?
Sir A. STANLEYI have already explained to my hon. Friend that I have no power to increase the pensions of former employés of the General Lighthouse Authorities unless those fixed for the Public Civil Service under the Superannuation Acts are increased by Parliament. I regret to add that, owing to present conditions, the reserve in the General Lighthouse Fund is rapidly disappearing.