§ MR. LOUGHI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether a standard of dietary equal to that which exists in British prisons is in force in the prisons in the West Indies; whether a reduced dietary has been adopted recently in the St. Kitts and Antigua prisons; and whether there has been any increase in the death rate in the latter prison?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES(1) The dietaries in force in the West India prisons have been adopted on the best advice obtainable, and are believed to be generally suitable. It is not easy to compare them and the dietaries in British prisons owing to the difference in climate, race and circumstances. (2) The adoption of a reduced dietary in St. Kitts has recently been brought to my notice, and I am in correspondence with the governor of the Leeward Islands on the subject. (3) I have no information at present to show whether there has been any increase in the death rate in the Antigua prison in 1897. There was one death in 1896, and one in 1895.