§ MR. J. E. ELLIS (Nottingham, Rushcliffe)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether the following persons mentioned in "Return 203, Home Office, June 1888"—namely, Henry Culforth, Henry Wilson, and George S. Tinkler, were imprisoned for contempt under the provisions of Section 4 of "The Debtors Act, 1869;" and, can he explain, inasmuch as by that Act and section imprisonment is limited to one year in the foregoing Return, why the word "indefinitely" is placed opposite the names of the persons above-mentioned?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.)The persons named appear by the Return to have been committed under the Debtors Act, 1869, for default in payment of money. Such commitments are usually indefinite, and not for a specific term; but the Act limits the duration of the imprisonment under them to one year. The cases referred to are all within the present year.