§ SIR MARK STEWART (Kirkcudbright)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate (1) if his attention has been called to the hardship imposed by law on a parish which has been compelled to afford relief to an alien pauper lunatic becoming 686 chargeable on the rates of such parish; and (2) if he can see his way to free the rates from such a burden by extending the costs of chargeability over a wider area than one parish by legislation or otherwise?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATESo long as the parish system is retained, cases of hardship of the kind mentioned by my hon. Friend must occasionally occur, but will tend to distribute themselves equally. I may point out, however, that so far as the obligation to relieve is concerned, there is no difference between an alien lunatic and a native lunatic without a known settlement. In reply to the second part of the Question, the occasional nature of the case complained of is a sufficient argument against making alterations in a system which works well.