§ MR. PICKERSGILL (Bethnal Green, SW.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that more than half the women now under detention in Holloway Prison could have been dealt with under the Inebriates Acts and sent to reformatories; and whether, in these circumstances, he will consider the advisability of calling the attention of magistrates to the provisions of the Inebriates Acts.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. GLADSTONE, Leeds, W.)I am aware that a good many women in Holloway Prison have qualified for committal to an inebriate reformatory. It is, of course, for the Court to decide what is the best way of dealing with each case; but I have specially drawn the attention of magistrates to the working of the reformatory system, and have recently taken steps to ensure metropolitan Courts being made acquainted with a prisoner's previous convictions of drunkenness. I do not see 75 that I can with advantage take any further action at present., but I think it would be well if more use were made of the powers given by the Inebriates Act.