§ MR. CONWAYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he could state why the present Roman Catholic Chaplain of Leeds Gaol received only £50 a year, whereas his predecessor received a salary of £125 per annum; whether the Protestant Chaplain received £350 per annum and the use of a house; whether the present Roman Catholic Chaplain attended to the religious necessities of at least an average of 120 prisoners; and if he would consider the propriety of remedying to some extent this difference of position between the chaplains?
§ MR. MATTHEWSFifty pounds a year is the salary applicable to the present Roman Catholic Chaplain at Leeds Prison, under rules approved by the Treasury, and based on the recommendation of a Select Committee of this House, of the year 1870, to which I beg to refer the hon. Member. The present priest's predecessor was appointed in 1871, by the late Local Authority, at 1239 the salary stated, which was continued to him by virtue of Section 35 of the Prisons Act, 1877. The lately deceased Protestant Chaplain was remunerated as stated. His successor will commence at £300 per annum, having over 400 prisoners to attend to. The daily average of Roman Catholic prisoners for the last three years has been 98. When the average daily number exceeds 100, the Chaplain will, under the Treasury rule, receive £100 a year. A Protestant Chaplain with the like number of prisoners would have a salary of £150.