§ MR. P. A. TAYLORasked the Under Secretary of State for the Homo Department, Whether his attention has been called to a Report of the Visiting Committee of the Stafford Prison lately issued, wherein it is stated that a convicted felon had been flogged for refusing to be photographed; and if he will inquire into the circumstances of the case?
§ MR. ARTHUR PEEL,in reply, said, that by Rule 58 in the Schedule of the Prisons Act of 1865, Justices had the power of ordering any prisoner convicted of felony to receive corporal punishment for repeated offences against prison discipline. Another Act gave prison authorities the right to have the photograph of a prisoner taken, either at the time of his entrance into prison or subsequently. In the case referred to in the Question, the Justices had acted distinctly in accordance with the discretionary power which they possessed. He might observe that photographing was a very necessary process in connection with the administration of justice.