MR. CLEMENT EDWARDS (Denbigh District)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any member of the Criminal Investigation Department, or prison official, or any person controlled by the Home Office, has a general authority to promise prisoners, undergoing sentence, any remission of their punishment if they will give in formation tending to bring other persons to justice; and, if no such general authority exists, whether a particular authority is given in special instances, and by whom, and to whom, and under what circumstances.
§ MR. GLADSTONEThe answer to both Questions is in the negative. No person has any general authority from the Home Office to promise remission of punishment as a reward for giving information tending to bring other persons to justice, and though it is possible that in some particular case authority may have been given to hold out hope of some remission, no recent case of the sort is known. I may say, however, that in some cases a judge in passing sentence has held out hope to a prisoner that he would recommend its reduction if he gave information in the interests of justice.