§ LORD EDMUND TALBOT (Sussex, Chichester)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of Roman Catholic inmates in the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylums; and whether he is satisfied as to the provision made for their spiritual wants, and how such provision compares with that made in other similar asylums throughout the country.
§ * SIR M.WHITE RIDLEYThere were at the beginning of the year 324 Roman Catholic patients in the West Riding Lunatic Asylums. I regret to say that the provision made for their spiritual wants is not what I consider satisfactory, and is far behind that made 237 by other authorities in various parts of the country. I have expressed myself strongly in this sense to the West Riding General Asylums Committee, but I have no power to compel them to alter their practice.