§ MR. BRADLAUGH (Northampton)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any steps whatever have been taken by the Colonial Authorities since August last to remedy the wretched state shown by the Report on the Penal Establishments in Cape Colony to then exist in the Colonial prisons; whether the evils reported on have been known to the Government for more than two years; whether any representations have been made to the Colonial Authorities by the Secretary of State; and, if he will lay upon the Table the Report on this subject made by the Committee on Convicts and Gaols appointed by the Cape Town Parliament?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Baron H. DE WORMS,) Liverpool, East ToxtethI informed the House on the 26th ult. that the Cape Government had taken immediate steps by legislation to remedy the condition of the Colonial Prisons. The Secretary of State is not aware how long the evils reported upon have been known of the Colonial Government; they were not known to Her Majesty's Govern- 966 ment until the Report disclosed them. No representations by the Colonial Authorities have been made to the Secretary of State. It is not the duty of the Secretary of State to supervize the internal administration of a colony under responsible government. It would not be right to publish the Report here without a statement of what has been in pursuance of it.
§ MR. BRADLAUGHOn the Colonial Vote I will call attention to the fact that no steps whatever have been taken to remedy the evils complained of.