§ LORD ALGERNON PERCYasked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether his attention has been called to the continued complaints regarding the treatment of the inmates of the Poland Street Workhouse of the Westminster Union by Mr. T. D. Bliss, the master, since the letter of the Local Government Board, of the 18th of July, 1883, censuring him for his previous conduct; whether he is aware that, shortly after the receipt of that letter, the guardians presented Mr. Bliss with a purse containing £25, as a mark of their appreciation of his conduct; whether Mr. Jordan, lately sent by the Board to make inquiries into these complaints, had been formerly intimately acquainted with Mr. Bliss, and whether he conducted his inquiries in private or in the presence of the master; and, whether it is the intention of the Local Government Board to take any further stops in the matter?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKESir, all cases of complaint as to the treatment of inmates of the Poland Street. Workhouse of the Westminster Union which have been brought under the notice of the Board have received their attention. The Board are not aware whether or not Mr. Bliss was presented with a purse of money by the Guardians, and they have not deemed it necessary to make inquiry as to the action of individual Guardians in a matter of this kind. Major Jordan was not acquainted with Mr. Bliss prior to his inspecting the workhouse as an officer of the Board. In consequence of a statement which appeared in a Notice of a Question as to an inmate named Warren, Major Jordan visited the workhouse and saw the man. He saw the man alone, and not in the presence of Mr. Bliss. A person who was visiting; the workhouse when it was alleged that Warren was threatened by the master was seen by Major Jordan in the presence of Mr. Bliss. The Board are in communication with the Guardians as to the case of Warren.