§ Lord Monteaglesaid, that the question which he had then to bring under their Lordships' consideration was evidently not a party question. It was one which he felt willing to bring forward, though at the moment when he addressed them there was not one of his noble Friends present. The question was one which demanded their most serious attention, involving as it did the highest considerations of humanity, expediency, and justice. It must be in their Lordships' recollection, that the subject which he proposed to bring before them was one which had already been deliberately inquired into by a Committee of that House—that witnesses of the highest respectability had been examined, that men of the greatest skill and eminently conversant with the subject had been before the Committee; and the Report which had been presented to their Lordships was one to which the Committee gave their unanimous assent; and that Report was communicated to the other House of Parliament. Before he proceeded further, he begged to say that one of the objects with which he then rose was to inquire what the intentions of the Government were respecting the important duty of making provision for Pauper Lunatics in Ireland, as well as to call the attention of the noble Duke opposite to a conversation which he had held with him during the present Session of Parliament, on the subject which he was now endeavouring to bring under the view of the House. Remembering then, the importance of the subject, and remembering likewise that conversation to which he had referred, he could not help feeling some surprise that nothing had yet been done in a case where the necessity was so urgent, and the evil so great. At present nothing more was done, and according to the present system, nothing could be done for the Pauper Lunatics beyond that of keeping them in safe custody; and here let it not be forgotten that those Lunatics were persons not only not criminal, but not even accused of crime; yet those poor people were detained in confinement, without any of the medical aid or moral discipline which their condition required; they were, on the contrary, 620 subjected to the mere prison discipline, and they were sent to prison on the mere certificate of any medical man—they were sent to common gaols, and treated like ordinary offenders. It was true that the Lord Lieutenant could, if he thought proper, send them to one of the district asylums; but so insufficient were those buildings to answer the purposes for which they had been designed, that the answer to any application for admission always was, "The asylum is quite full." In illustration of the extent to which the demand for admission was carried, he should just state that in the year 1837 the number in those district asylums was 37, in 1841, it was 110; and in 1843, it was 214. One just cause of regret was, that so many and such helpless persons should be in local prisons away from the cognizance of the Government. The Committee in their Report recommended that there should be in Dublin a central establishment for Criminal Lunatics. Now, for the accomplishment of this object no Bill whatever was required; all that the Government had to do was to take a vote for the purpose, and really he thought it was incumbent on them to do this when they looked at the whole of the ill-considered arrangements under which those persons were kept: those arrangements were so ill-considered that the parties who made them would not now justify them. Nothing could be worse than the condition of Pauper Lunatics. In the union workhouses there was nothing like accommodation for them: there was nothing more contrary to humanity than the manner in which they were kept; no proper means provided for their restraint; no moral discipline—no medical assistance, nothing but straitwaistcoats, chains, and personal violence;—and again, nothing could be more unequal or irregular than the allocation of these asylums. There was only one for the whole province of Connaught, with a population of 1,500,000 souls, and one for the county of Waterford, with a population of 400,000. That which he particularly deprecated was, that the Session should be allowed to pass over without anything being done for the mitigation of so great an evil. To leave the people in such a state would be a political crime in any Government. It was, no answer to say that the change which he suggested would lead to increased expense. He believed he spoke the sentiments of the Irish proprietors generally when he said that they would not object to local 621 burthens, when those burthens were really imposed for purposes of humanity. He suggested that as a beginning the Government should take a vote in order to make provision for Criminal Lunatics, and he concluded by moving an Address to the Crown representing that a Committee had investigated the state in which Pauper Lunatics were kept in Ireland; that their unanimous Report and other documents had been laid before their Lordships' House, setting forth that the accommodation for the Lunatic Poor in the district asylums was insufficient; that in consequence of that they were obliged in the local establishments and common gaols to be associated with criminals; that there was not a sufficient provision for moral restraint and medical treatment: that there was no general asylum such as existed in Great Britain; that on the authority of the Commissioners it appeared that the cells and dormitories in the union workhouses were gloomy and uncomfortable; that Pauper Lunatics had frequently been imprisoned upon false pretences and without a medical certificate. The Address concluded by praying that these evils be remedied by such means as Her Majesty might be advised to adopt.
§ Lord Wharncliffesaid, the Government would rejoice to have better means of providing for the accommodation of the unfortunate persons to whom the noble Lord's Motion referred. The Government had turned their attention to the subject of providing a central asylum for pauper lunatics, and a plan was now before the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the probability was, that the right hon. Gentleman would take a vote for the purpose of carrying it into effect. That was the probability, but he could not pledge the Government that such would be the case. From the noble Lord's own showing, it would require an Act of Parliament to provide for the regulation of these asylums, and his noble Friend the Chief Secretary for Ireland had proposed a Bill, and would, if possible, bring it on this Session, but he (Lord Wharncliffe) would suggest that it would be desirable that the Bill should be submitted to the grand juries of Ireland for their suggestions. He would communicate to the Chancellor of the Exchequer the impression which the speech of the noble Lord had made on their Lordships' House, and he trusted that in the course of this Session some further advance would be made in the matter, and means taken 622 to provide the necessary sum. Under the circumstances he conceived that the Address was unnecessary.
§ Lord Monteaglesaid, that in the Hebrew language there was no future tense, and he wished he could say so of the present Government; but unfortunately their language upon such subjects as that before the House—upon all matters relating to Ireland—was all in the future tense. The defects of the existing institutions were manifest, but if the object of the Government was to apply to the grand juries for sites, they would be applying to the very worst authorities. The course which the Government were now taking was the very reverse of that which had led to any improvement of lunatic asylums. Sir Robert Peel, when Secretary for Ireland, went to Parliament and got a vote, and established the Richmond Lunatic asylum in consequence of that vole, which was the first effectual step taken towards the improvement of the asylums in that country. If the noble Lords opposite were disposed to bring their future tense into the present tense, there was nothing in the Address which he had named that they could object to, and he should not, therefore, withdraw it.
§ Question put, and negatived.
§ House adjourned.