§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sentences of flogging for robbery with violence were remitted from July, 1895 till October, 1900; and how many sentences of flogging for that crime were remitted between December, 1905, and the present time.
§ MR. GLADSTONESo far as I can ascertain, there were five eases of remis- 502 sion in 1899, and four in 1900. All these, except two, were cases where the prisoner was ordered to be flogged more than once, and where the second or third flogging was remitted, not because of any question as to the propriety of the conviction, but solely because of the objection to such repeated punishments. There have been no remissions since 1905; but I may add that there have been no cases in which a prisoner has been ordered to be flogged more than once. During the years 1906 and 1907, seven persons were sentenced to corporal punishment for robbery with violence, but in none of these cases was any application made to me by the prisoner with regard to his sentence.