§ MR. PIRIE (Aberdeen, N.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War if the Secretary of State for War is aware of the probability of the late Veterinary Captain Finlayson's suicide while of unsound mind was directly due to the compulsion he was under from the authorities to resign his commission, as also to his prosecution on a civil charge of which he had not been found guilty, and to the possibility of his mind having been affected by the conditinos of foreign 1438 service and exposure to sun, and in view of the Government having thereby avoided payment of the gratuity of £800 to which the deceased officer would have otherwise been entitled, the granting of which must have been intended as forming part of their decision that this officer should resign his commission, he is prepared to take some further steps than the offer as a compassionate allowance to the deceased officer's parents of £20, subsequently supplemented by £10, and again by another £20, making a total of £50, the deceased officer having been the main support of his parents for many years?
§ MR. WYNDHAMAll the facts of this case have been fully considered, and I regret that I can add nothing to my previous answer.
§ MR. PIRIEThis is a very important matter, and I desire, therefore, to ask a further Question. Was not the granting of this £800 a substantial element in the Government's decision that the Commission should be resigned?
§ MR. WYNDHAMI have already explained that the decision in these cases, arbitrary as it may seem, must depend on the date of the signification of Her Majesty's approval. There are, I can assure the honourable Member, other cases which, on the face of them, seem as hard as this, but the Secretary of State cannot go back on the decision given.
§ [No Reply.]