§ MR. CONYBEAREI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that under the rules of the General Prisons Board a prisoner is only allowed to have one book out of the library per month, and that this rule is rigorously enforced, whether the book contains 100 or 1,000 pages; whether there is any sufficient reason for this limitation; and whether he will direct that prisoners who are entitled to have the use of books from the prison library shall be allowed to change such books as often as they may need to, provided that such permission is not abused in the sense of spending in reading time which should be otherwise employed?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe General Prisons Board report that the number of volumes in the prison libraries is not fixed, but varies according to the average number of prisoners. New books are added to the libraries each year, as a rule. The sum allowed by the Treasury for the purchase of new library books each year is at the rate of 1s. 3d. per prisoner of the daily average number of prisoners. The annual expenditure, therefore, varies from year to year, and cannot be exactly stated without reference to the Stationery Office. It is contrary to practice to allow any books to be introduced other than those provided in the manner above described; but if special cause were shown the practice would, no doubt, be relaxed?
§ MR. CONYBEAREIn view of the fact in my own experience that the prisoners find it very difficult to get books renewed, and are not able to change even small books for a whole month, I ask will the right hon. Gentleman give the Governors of gaols greater latitude in this matter?
§ MR. E. HARRINGTON (Kerry, W.)Will the right hon. Gentleman inquire as to the practice in this matter in English prisons? Will he ascertain whether books are not more frequently issued in those prisons; and will he consider the desirability of more frequently issuing them in Irish prisons, so long as the prison tasks are not interfered with?
§ MR. J. O'CONNOR (Tipperary, S.)Will the right hon. Gentleman issue instructions for prisoners to be allowed H complete work instead of only one volume at a time?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI can only say that the practice which obtains in English prisons is similar to that in Irish gaols.
§ MR. CONYBEAREI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state what number of volumes is as a rule contained in the gaol libraries of the Irish Prisons, how often the books are renewed, and what sum annually is spent in furnishing them; and whether, if donations of books were received from charitable persons, the General Prisons Board would allow them to be added to the prison libraries? I will also ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he cannot see his way to giving prisoners a greater choice of works, seeing that they are now mainly supplied with the lives of saints, and that such works are seldom in harmony with their religion?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe General Prisons Board report that the frequency with which library books are issued to prisoners depends, according to regulations, on a prisoner's length of sentence find class. Those in the second-class receive a new book every month, those in the first-class, who have spent above 12 months in prison, receive a new book when required, while those in the lower classes receive only one book during two months or six weeks. The rule is generally strictly enforced; but as regards the size of the book, which is selected by the prisoner himself, if it 1102 turns out to be of very small size, the Governor sometimes allows him to exchange it for a larger. The present regulation is based on the principle of increasing a prisoner's privileges, by a graduated scale, according to his conduct and industry and the length of his sentence. The Prisons Board informs me that it has worked satisfactorily.