§ MR. WILLLAM CORBETI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that the numbers of registered lunatics in Great Britain and Ireland have increased from 55,525 in 1862 to 111,979 in 1889; whether he has observed from the Reports of the Lunacy Commissioners that, notwithstanding the great increase of asylum accommodation annually provided for a long series of years, a large amount of additional accommodation is urgently required; has he any evidence to show that drink contributes 9 a large annual percentage to the number of lunatics; and will the Government take into consideration the adoption of some means of dealing with the subject?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. MATTHEWS,) Birmingham, E.I am not in possession of the exact figures for Ireland, but the numbers of registered lunatics in England and Wales were—January 1, 1862, 41,129; January 1, 1889, 84,340. I am informed by the Lunacy Commissioners that extra accommodation is required in some counties, but in many others it is sufficient to supply probable future requirements for some years to come. The Table 34 of the 43rd Report of the Lunacy Commissioners shows that in the cases of 18,290 out of 136,478 persons admitted into institutions for the insane, intemperance in drink was stated to have been the cause, or one of the causes, of insanity. The Government will always be ready to consider any suggestions for dealing with this subject.