ENGLAND’S BEST

Evening Star, Issue 19661, 14 September 1927, Page 12

ENGLAND’S BEST

Fur every shilling spent, by foreign peoples on the support, ut Uicir war ponsioners the citizen of England contributes cightecnpencc. Tins was the effect of a. comparison made by Lieu-tenant-colonel lion. G. I'. Stanley, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, in a debate on ibo Estimates of his department in the House of Commons recently (reports the ‘Daily Telegraph’). , The total amount estimated to lie required this year is £01.443.(M)U. Of this sum £57,283,633 represents the cost of pensions and allowances, a tall of £3,000,000, being mainly accountable to the normal incidence of death and tlic attainment by children of the asze of sixteen years. There are roughly 1,000,000 pensions and 000,000 dependents. . . The comparison made by the Minister was based on figures for the year 193530. He quoted the following totals: —

The return for Germany is based on the gold mark. That lor the United Stales, which'is for the year 1925, has to bo considered in conjunction witn Ibe fact that the cost of living is 50 per cent, higher than in Groat Britain. It bad always been claimed, was the Minister’s comment, that tlio charge on onr people was substantially in excess of that borne by others, and the figures showed tho rate per head to be 50 per cent, higher than in any oilier country. The time limit of seven years lor claimants was the chief object of criticism in flic debate that followed. _ Mr F. O. Roberts, the Socialist cx-Ministor of Pensions, pressed lor its abolition, and Major Cohen, the lion, treasurer of flic British Legion, who sits for the Fairfield Division of Liverpool, urged that our nractice in this respect compared unfavorably with that of other countries and the dominions. _ The lion, and gallant member, who, in consideration of bis severe war disabilities, addresses the House from bis seat at the end of the front bench below tho gallery, gladly agreed that the British scale of pensions was very high, and that our administration was good and sympathetic. Tn .support of his opinion he told the House of a recent interview with a French soldier as badly wounded as himself, who, alluding to the medals with which ho was covered, remarked: “I would not mind giving them all for your pension.” In further confirmation Major Cohen cited comparisons which he had been able to make while attending a conference of ex-soldiers of Allied and exenemy countries at Luxembourg. Of this imvel gathering the lion, member claimed good-lminomllv. in missing, that it had shown that those who had fought together were, more likely than the diplomats to como to peaceful conclusions.

/ Per I lea cl Pensions. Populn. £. £ s. d. Groat Britain ... 60,500,000 1 o 6 Dominions ... 19,500,000 1 7 0 £36,000,000 Franco ... .'17.500,000 0 IS 6 Germany ... 60,000,000 0 19 2 United Slates ... 46,000,000 0 s y