MAJORITY REPORT. 
237 
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and the first suggestion made to us was that this restriction should 
be removed and that the pensions should be thrown open to all 
seamen domiciled in the United Kingdom who have served in 
the British Mercantile Marine. On this proposal Sir Walter 
Kinnear made the following comment :— 
‘“ Many seamen cease, on account of age and infirmity, 
to go to sea for a prolonged period, and if they do not take 
up insurable employment on shore, their insurance and 
Society membership have ceased before they reach pension 
age. An example is the crofter seaman of the Hebrides who 
has left the sea for several years and maintains himself by 
cultivating his croft. We have also the case of officers and 
engineers in the Mercantile Marine who are excepted from 
insurance by the remuneration limit and are not members 
of Societies. The contributions forming the income of the 
Tiascar Fund are those paid by the employers for foreign 
seamen, not domiciled in the United Kingdom, who are not 
insured. They are, therefore, in the nature of a general tax 
on the running of the ship, and may be held in equity to be 
utilisable for the benefit of all British seamen, and not merely 
for the class who happen to be members of Approved 
Societies. . . . That proposal has already been adopted by 
the Ministry of Labour as regards pensions derived from 
Unemployment Insurance contributions, and we therefore 
recommend that this particular request be granted.” 
(Kinnear, Q. 23,771.) 
555. We are satisfied that there is a good case for the suggested 
change, and we therefore recommend that Section 64 (4) of the 
Act should be amended by the omission of the words ** being 
members of Approved Societies.’’ 
556. The second suggestion made to us with reference to the 
Lascar Fund was that the cost of administering the Fund, which 
under the Act has to be apportioned amongst Approved Societies 
whose members are entitled to the benefits, should be borne by 
the Fund itself. On this suggestion, Sir Walter Kinnear said :— 
“It would be very difficult to levy Societies in that way. As a 
matter of fact, that Section of the Act has never yet been put 
into operation. Societies have considerable difficulty in ascer- 
taining precisely their seamen membership. We think it is 
hardly reasonable to charge Societies with the cost of administer- 
ing the Pensions Scheme, and it is therefore suggested that 
Section 64 (5) of the Act should be amended to provide that the 
cost of administration should be borne by the ILascar Fund 
Itself.” (Kinnear, Q. 23,771.) 
557. We are satisfied that this also is a desirable change, and 
therefore recommend that Section 64 of the Act should be 
amended accordingly.