HC Deb 12 August 1878 vol 242 cc1764-5
MR. MITCHELL HENRY

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, If the pillow which he stated is supplied to prisoners who have to pass the night on a plank is a lump of wood, the same as is used in England, and not a pillow in the usual meaning of the term; and, if that is so, whether he will state by whom he was informed that prisoners were supplied with a pillow?

MR. J. LOWTHER

Sir, I have confined my inquiries on this subject to Irish prisons, and I find that the information which I previously furnished to the House was correct. The pillow is made, I am told, of ticking, stuffed with cocoanut fibre, which is, in its turn, further covered with pillow slips, which are changed weekly.

MR. MITCHELL HENRY

I wish to ask, Has it not been stated to the House, that the Prison Rules are the same in England and Ireland?

MR. J. LOWTHER

I never so stated it, though others may have done. The Rule referring to this subject is drawn up in identical terms; but its application as regards Ireland I have already stated. England is in this matter under the charge of the Home Secretary.

MR. MITCHELL HENRY

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman, Whether the pillow issued in England to prisoners who sleep on the plank bed is of wood?

MR. ASSHETON CROSS

Generally speaking, it has been a piece of wood in England; but, at the present moment, as far as women, children, and old men are concerned, orders have been given for some alteration to be made.