If a Nurse cannot enter the Service till after she is thirty, the majority will no doubt be some years above thirty when they enter, say an average of thirty-five; and five years appear a very long probation for a person at that age before increase of wages begins. In most cases, in Civil Departments, there is only one year of such probation before increase begins, though the persons are much younger when they enter. A maximum might be fixed, beyond which the wages should not rise, and when the increase of pension would be sufficient inducement to remain. Very few Nurses can be expected to continue really efficient till sixty years of age; but it is often difficult to say that a person is disabled, though she may have become less active and efficient. If there is no retiring allowance there will be great reluctance to dismiss her, and it might, in that case, be cruel. The better plan would be to promise a small pension after ten or twelve years’ service, on a scale so graduated thereafter as to offer an inducement to remain, at the same time that it would afford facility for enforcing retirement without injustice. This would be economy. The “Nursing Sisters” grant £20 after twelve years’ service. After a time there may probably be difficulty in dismissing persons who have done good service for ten years, but have declined in efficiency, unless there is a retiring allowance. They may be reluctant to retire; and, if so, it would be almost impossible to dismiss them, without some kind of provision. This is a difficulty which is encountered in every employment in which there is no such provision. Persons who can hardly be said to be disabled but who have become less efficient are retained, because, if dismissed, they have no means of livelihood. I have consulted the best authorities upon these points; and I find the following general principles admitted:-- GENERAL PRINCIPLES AS TO WAGES AND PENSIONS. [Sidenote: (1.) Same Salary at first.] (1.) At whatever age a Nurse enters the Service she shall begin with the same salary. [Sidenote: (2.) Same Annual rate of increase.] (2.) The annual rate of increase shall be the same for all ages of entrance. [Sidenote: (3.) Maximum Salary fixed.] (3.) The maximum salary shall not exceed £. [Sidenote: (4.) Pension for Service after Ten Years.] (4.) The pension for service shall not begin until ten years of completed service. [Sidenote: (5.) Amount of Pension a certain Percentage on mean Salary of preceding year.] (5.) The amount of pension shall be a certain percentage on the salary during the year preceding that on which she is pensioned. APPLICATIONS OF THE FOREGOING PRINCIPLES. [Sidenote: (1.) Annual rise of Wages till the maximum of efficiency.] (1.) That the wages of Nurses shall rise annually, for a definite number of years, attaining their maximum, on an average, at the age forty-five, when the Nurses are found to be most efficient.