§ MR. WHEELHOUSEasked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether the following alleged entry, said to have been made by Mr. Brown, the District Inspector under the Local Government Board, and read at the last meeting of the Dolgelly Guardians, be correct, namely:—
I must again request the special attention of the guardians to the notes made by me on both my last previous visits as to the care of the children and others being left to the 'imbeciles.' This is no fault of the master, as he has no other person to place in charge. At present the male nurse is an 'imbecile,' and Jane Richards, also an 'imbecile' of violent temper, and the mother of illegitimate children, is in charge of the children. I can only characterise such a condition of things as a disgrace to the union;if such entry be correctly reported, whether the Local Government Board is actually powerless to put a stop to a state of things which has already lasted apparently for a considerable length of time; or, if the Local Government Board is not so actually powerless, whether it will immediately exercise any power it possesses for the purpose of causing such a condition of things to be remedied and removed?
§ MR. SCLATER-BOOTHSir, I am not aware of the terms in which Mr. Brown expressed himself in the visitors' book of the Board of Guardians of the Union referred to; but a statement of his to the same effect as that now quoted was communicated to the Local Government Board so long ago as the 24th of May last. On the 1st of June following the Local Government Board addressed a communication to the Board of Guardians, informing them of the statement made by the inspector, and stating that the arrangements referred to by him were most objectionable, and must be immediately discontinued. The Board pointed out that if the Guardians could not place a trustworthy inmate in charge of the children, it was their duty to appoint a paid officer. Their reply has not yet been received, but the subject shall not be lost sight of.