11 JULY 1908, Page 16

AN OLD-AGE PENSIONS PUZZLE.

[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."]

Sile,—My old nurse has an annuity of 220. I make up her income to 250 a year. Does my voluntary gift of 230 a year constitute " means " P If I stop it, and she claims and gets the £13 a year which the Exchequer is going to provide, shall I be punishable for giving, or she for receiving, a Christmas- box of £17 a year P-1 am, Sir, &c., G. C. F.

[She has no legal but only a moral expectation in regard to the 230 a year, and therefore should be pensionable. She can truthfully tell the Exciseman that the only source of income to which she is legally entitled is the £20 annuity.—ED. Spectator.]