Star.
London, England, 1818-04-25 00:00:00

. •0. S.

what had been the- view of his Majesty's Govern,
ment...lt "fats perfectly oar that these pensions,
from whatever soutce they originated, were never
considered as a matter of right. It had been the prac-
tice, buds with regard to the Army and the Navy, to
make peovision by pen• ions for the widows of Offi-
cers : but these pensions were always granted on a
memorial being presented, stating the individual to'
-be in necessitous circumstances. In the Navy, the na-
ture and amount cf these pensions were strictly de-
fitted, and a person applying had to make an affidavit
'that she had not been .I‘t property to the annual
amount of double the pension for which she applied.—
With regard to the Army, a different rule had pre-
vailed. No sum was defined, and the Memorialist
merely stated, that she had no pension from the Go-
vernment, and no property left by her late, husbande
capable of affording her a reasonable maintenance.
The statement being thus quite indefinite, the prac-
tice with regard to Pensions became liable to consi-
derable abuse. It was true, as the Noble Marquis
had stated, that a fund had been established for
Widows' Pensions at a very early period. It was
• first created out of the appointments of two troops of
horse which were reduced. After the institution of
thaA'und, the words respecting necessitous circurr-
staaces of the parties had, by neglect, been omitted
in the warrants granting pensions; but they were
restored ie 1770, and after that date all warrants
stated the grant to be made in consequence of the
. death td the husband and the distressed circumstances
of the widew. It was evident, therefore, from the
very form of the warrant, that the -circumstances of
the widow were always understood to be taken into
consideratiOn in granting. the pension No definite
sum, however, being mentioned, a practice had pre-
'relied of granting the pension without a strict refe-
rence to the circumstances of the claimant, and it.
was the object of the regulation to correct this abuse.
The areurnents urged by the Noble Marquis on this
question-must apply to the Navy with as much jus-
tice as to the Army, if he found the right to the
pension money withdrawn from the pay of the.Otti-
cer. A rate is paid on the pay, half-pay, and pen-
sions of Naval Officers towards the Widows' Fund,
and yet the pensions for the widows of these Officers
were regulated by a scale similar to that laid down
in the regulation of the War-office. It was certainly
desirable that the two services should be placed on
the same footing, and this was the sole object of the
regulation complained of. It had been thought right
to resnove all doubts with respect to the Army, by
adopting a regulation similar to that which governed
the pensions for the widows of Naval Officers. It
had, leesever, been represented to him, that many
individuals, conceiving that their widows were of
right entitled to the pension of their rank, had en-
sured their lives, to enable them to make a further
provision for their families, and had, perhaps, un-
dergone considerable privations in order to accom-
plish that object. He was therefore of opinion, that
•the regulation ought to be modified so far as to pre-
vent it from having any retrospective effect with re-
gard to cases of this description. But as a prospec-
tive measure, he considered it highly proper, be-
cause it placed the two services on an equality. The
words which were formerly admitted as sufficient in
the Memorials fbr pensions to widows of Military
Officeis, were far too loose and indefinite, and it
was proper to introduce the precise form of the Na-
val Affidavits. At the same time it :sad been thought
advisable to make another alteration, leaving to the
widows, both of Naval and Military Officers, the
power of receiving the pension, if they have not an
income equal to four times its amount. He trusted
this modification of the regulation would be found
to be dictated by that liberality which was due to-
wards the individuals who were its objects, while it
would at the same time perfectly assimilate the two
services with regard to Widows Pension;.
The Earl of ROSSLYN was willing to confess,
that what had been stated by the Noble Earl, would
remove many, of the objections he should have other-
wise made ; but still lie could not bring himself to
consider it expedient to alter that practice which
had prevailed for such a series of years. But he
thanked the Noble Earl for the intimation that the
two services were to be placed on the same footing--
it was what he nimself should rejoice to see. He
wished a liberal provision to be made for the Officers
of the Navy ; yet lie could not possibly help remark-
ing. that the claim to compensation was stronger
on the part of the Widows cf Officers of the Army
than la the other service. He rested this opinion
on the different manner in which the two services
were accustomed to obtain their commissions.
A Military Officer purchased his Commission, and in
that. purchase lie hoped, and believe-I, that in the
event of his dying first, he had likewise bought an ,
annuity for his widow. Somethine had dropped as
to the relief to be experienced by thie Public in thus
disburthening the Pension List—but their Lordships
must feel that such relief could only be obtained at
the expense of the purchase of Commissions in the
Army. Ile would venture to assert, that this method
of relieving the Public, was the very last one the
people of this Kingdom would desire to see, and; he
was quite certain, that it was a measure which their
Lordships would revolt at—dear, hear). Conceiving
he had already made out no trivial case in favour of
old constructions of warrants, in favour of Officers of
the Army, he should detain the House no longer.
He begged, however, to remind their Lordship, that
whenever a Military Officer died, even in the service
of his King and country, his Commission' could not
be sold for the benefit of those he left behind him,
and therefore his widow had noeesource but the pre-
seat Fund.
Lord EXMOUTH was satisfied with the liberality
of the Noble Earl (Liverpool) but, as a Naval Officer,
he could not avoid just stating, that the Widows of
Naval Officers had strong claims to the attention of
Government. With respect to the Widows of Officers
in the Army, he thought it a pity to withdraw that
support to which they had been accustomed for a

century past.
The Marquis of LANSDOWN, in reply, said, he
certainly felt gratified at the Noble Earl's ;Liverpool)
assurance that the two services were about to be as-
similated ; and he declared that his satisfaction would
be still Freater, if the allowance of the Navy was
brought up to something like that allotted to the Army.
The motion was now agreed to, and their Lord-
ships adjourned to Monday.