HC Deb 03 March 1903 vol 118 c1225
DR. FARQUHARSON (Aberdeen shire, W.)

To ask Mr. Attorney General whether the Government will consider proposals to legalise in England a system similar to that which is in operation in Scotland for the private care of persons showing symptoms of incipient mental derangement who cannot he certified as insane.

(Answered by Sir Robert Finlay.) The Government have already assented to the principle of such legislation, and a clause dealing with the subject was contained in the Lunacy Bill of 1900. That Bill was introduced by the Lord Chancellor into the House of Lords at the beginning of the session, and was passed; it came down to the House of Commons on the 8th of March in 1900, but had to be withdrawn on the 16th of July.