§ Sir FREDERICK CAWLEYasked the Home Secretary whether Mrs. Pankhurst was on her recent committal to prison at first put in a cell half underground, in which drainage from the ground above flowed in the direction of her cell; whether there were cockroaches and other abomination in it; and, if so, whether steps will be taken to prevent such conditions in future?
§ Mr. McKENNAI have seen a statement to this effect in the Press on the authority of a member of the Women's Social and Political Union recently released from Holloway, and I need hardly inform the House that it is entirely untrue. As, however, reckless statements of this kind are apt to be believed by persons unfamiliar with prison administration, I have had special inquiry made as to the location and character of the particular cell allotted to Mrs. Pankhurst. The floor level is six inches above the ground; outside there is a level walk of nine feet wide, and beyond that a grassy slope. The cell is perfectly dry, and by no means whatever can any surface water come within six feet of the wall of the building; no cockroaches have ever been seen or heard of. I do not know what is meant by "other abomination," but whatever it is, it exists only in the imagination of the person who made the statement. The cell is bright, with a sunny aspect, and is perfectly ventilated.
§ Mr. KINGHas the right hon. Gentleman considered whether there might be the possibility of mice in the cell?
§ Mr. LYELLCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether the ventilation is due to any effort of the inmate?
§ Sir GEORGE TOULMINasked whether imprisonment for women, even without hard labour, means food which is atrocious, confinement for twenty-three hours out of twenty-four in cells which are cold in winter and with no ventilation, and in being forced to sew the whole day long material which takes all the skin off the hands; and whether there is any difference to the disadvantage of women as against men in prison in the quality of food, warming, or ventilation of cells, and nature of work set?
§ Mr. McKENNAMy hon. Friend is no doubt quoting from a letter from a medical woman which appeared in the "Times" of Monday. The food given to women in prison is regulated by the diet scales in the rules, subject to any additions recommended in any particular case by the medical officer. In prisons which contain males and females the food for both sexes is prepared in the same kitchen, from the same materials, and by the same hands. At Holloway, where there are no males, the food supplied is of the same good quality. The cooking is under the superintendence 604 of a female officer, who has passed through the cookery school. The diets are inspected daily by the governor and medical officer, and, when they visit, by the members of the visiting committee, and are reported to be wholesome and well cooked. Female prisoners are not confined for twenty-three hours out of twenty-four at any stage of their sentences unless they are under punishment for prison offences; and then the confinement is only for a few days. They work in association for a considerable portion of the day from the beginning of their sentences. All the cells in female prisoners are warmed and ventilated. Prisoners are employed at needlework, dressmaking, tailoring, knitting, bead blind-making, laundry work, gardening, twine and net making, book-binding, cooking, and cleaning. A few are employed at sewing mailbags, but neither this nor any other sewing takes the skin off their hands. There is no difference between the treatment of men and women as regards the quality of food and the warming and ventilation of cells, and in the nature of the work set; there is only this difference, that women perform none but the lighter forms of labour.
§ Sir G. TOULMINAre there any women on the visiting committees?
§ Mr. McKENNAYes, Sir.