§ Mr. ALLEN PARKINSONasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will have 606W inquiries made into the case of A. S. George Moss, H.M.S. "Winchelsea," who has made application to purchase his discharge on the joint grounds that his grandfather, by whom he has been cared for since the death of his parents, is in very bad health and needs him at home in order to take charge of his house property and attend to his business generally, and that, being an apprentice to the building trade when he joined the service, he desires to complete his term and make himself an efficient tradesman, his employment being open to him on release to complete his apprenticeship under trade union conditions and pay?
§ Sir J. CRAIGI have made inquiries into this case, and find that Moss's application for discharge was refused in March last, as his case did not then appear sufficiently urgent, compared with other, to warrant his release, in view of the limited number of men who could be spared in the Seaman Branch. If Moss is an indentured apprentice, his release will be considered irrespective of compassionate grounds, provided his indentures, or a certified copy, are forwarded to the Admiralty in support of his claim. Unindentured apprentices cannot be released at present in the absence of sufficient grounds other than the fact of apprenticeship. If Moss wishes his case reconsidered on compassionate grounds, he should himself apply to his commanding officer, which he does not appear to have done since he was unsuccessful in March. Since that date, however, it has been necessary to restrict discharges in the Seaman Branch (other than indentured apprentices) to eases where exceptional financial hardship to dependants results from a man's retention; and it is impossible to give any guarantee of release until the man himself has applied and furnished full particulars of the family circumstances.