MR. O'CONNOR POWERasked the President of the Local Government Board, If his attention has been called to the proceedings of the Board of Poor Law Guardians of Cardiff, as reported in the "South Wales Daily News" and "Western Mail," of the 11th instant, in reference to the appointment of Catherine Gwyn, a Roman Catholic, as a nurse, and the efforts of the Guardians to change the appointment and dismiss Catherine Gwyn because she was a Roman Catholic; whether the Guardians have not heretofore acted illegally in requiring a particular religious qualification in the officers appointed by them; and, whether he will take steps to insure that no person shall be disqualified from holding office in the administration of the Poor Law (except in the case of chaplains appointed for particular denominations) on account of his or her religious belief?
§ MR. SCLATER-BOOTHSir, all I know officially about this case is that the Cardiff Guardians have recommended the sanctioning of the appointment of Catherine Gwyn as a nurse in their Union, and I have sanctioned the appointment. I have had no other communication from the Guardians on the subject. The hon. Gentleman has drawn my attention to a newspaper report of a discussion which occurred among the Guardians subsequent to the appointment, in which there was an objection made to it on the ground that the person appointed was a Roman Catholic. It is impossible for me to check the observa- 972 tions made in debates of Boards of Guardians. I do not know what steps I can take to insure—in fact, it is impossible so to insure—that Guardians should not give preference, if they choose, to members of their own religion, however objectionable and unauthorized that may be. The tendency is rather to relinquish control in such matters over Boards of Guardians by the Central Authority.