CAPTAIN VIVIANsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the cells in the wooden prison at Portland are lighted with candles, so that each convict in that prison has an unprotected candle under his control for some hours during every night of the winter months; whether it is the intention of Government to take any steps to put an end to so dangerous a system; and, whether any attempts have been made by the prisoners to set fire to the prison?
§ MR. GATHORNE HARDYIn reply, Sir, to the Question of the hon. and gallant Gentleman, I have to state that the prison at Portland is not altogether built of wood, but is partially of iron. The prisoners, no doubt, have candles for their light, but no instance, I am informed, has ever occurred of an attempt to set the prison on fire, and I may remark that the first result of such an attempt would be to burn the culprit in the particular cell set fire to. Indeed, when fires have accidentally broken out in gaols, no persons have been more anxious to extinguish them than the convicts themselves. The directors of the prison at Portland have, however, under their consideration a better mode of lighting the cells from the outside.
§ MR. GATHORNE HARDYIn answer to inquiries I am informed that there have been no attempts to set fire to the cells. There have been cases where the prisoners' clothes have been set on fire.