19 MAY 1900, Page 3

At the end of his speech, the Chancellor of the

Exchequer dealt with the question of old-age pensions and the difficulties surrounding it. We wish he would consider this point. Why should not, every man who has served his country (1) in the Regular Army ; (2) in the Militia and a Militia Reserve ; (3) in the Volunteers and a Volunteer Reserve, be entitled at the age of sixty to an old-age pension of seven shillings a week, plus, of course, any other pension earned by him? That would be a great inducement to recruiting. A man when he is young, as experience shows, will not put down actual money to buy an old-age pension, but if he could effect that insurance against old age by serving in the Militia or Volunteers, we believe that the thought of the old-age pension would often turn the scale when he was balancing between joining or not joining a Militia regiment or a Volunteer corps.