HC Deb 01 August 1889 vol 339 cc66-7
MR. MACNEILL

I eg t o ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that Mr. Conybeare, and other prisoners in Derry Gaol, complained on Saturday evening last that their eyes were weakened and influenced by the glare of the whitewash on the walls of their cells; and, whether, having regard to the cases of Messrs. Wilfred Blunt and Cox, M.P., whose sight has been impaired by imprisonment under similar circumstances, he will be prepared to direct the cells of these prisoners to be covered with a wash of blue or pink instead of the ordinary whitewash?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

My attention has not been called to the article in question, which does not seem very relevant to the question on the Paper. The General Prisons Board inform me that the Governor of Londonderry Prison has reported that it is not the case that Mr. Conybeare or any other prisoner had complained, as alleged in the first paragraph of the question; and as the hon. Member has been already informed, in reply to questions put by him on July 19, there is no evidence that either the sight of Mr. Blunt or of Mr. Cox, M.P., was impaired by imprisonment, nor do the Prisons Board see any necessity to alter the existing arrangements in regard to the colouring of the walls.

MR. COX

I do not wish to trouble the House with my own grievances and infirmities, but does the right hon. Gentleman know that I was conveyed from Dundalk Gaol to Kilmainham Gaol at the order of the Prisons Board?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

I shall be glad to answer any specific question put to me if the hon. Member will put it on the Paper; but the Prisons Board declare that there is no evidence that the sight of the hon. Member was impaired by his imprisonment.

MR. MACNEILL

Does not the right hon. Gentleman know that Mr. Blunt, in my presence and in the presence of the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Bradford (Mr. Shaw Lefevre), swore that his eyesight was injured, and the Attorney-General, who was prosecuting, laughed, though he apologised for so doing?

MR. GILL

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that Mr. Powell, who is now being prosecuted, has practically lost the sight of one eye owing to two imprisonments?

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

On the general question, I can only say that I can hardly believe that the eyesight of hon. Gentlemen in prison under the Criminal Law and Procedure Act is more delicate than that of persons imprisoned under other Acts; and, as I have not heard of complaints in the latter class of cases, I hope there is no ground for the fears of hon. Gentlemen.