The following sub-section is hereby substituted for Sub-section two of Section two hundred and fifty-four of the principal Act.
"(2) Plans for building, restoring, or enlarging an asylum, and contracts for the purchase of lands and buildings, agreed upon bya visiting committee shall not be carried into effect until approved by a Secretary of State, and the visiting committee shall forward to the Commissioners, free of expense, copies of all plans and contracts so approved, and the accommodation shown on any plans so approved shall not, without the approval of the Commissioners, be appropriated or used for other purposes than those shown on the plans."
EARL RUSSELLdid riot oppose this clause, but if it were enforced too rigidly at first it would press with some hardship upon London. Their Lordships were perhaps not aware of the extremely congested state of lunacy accommodation in London. The London County Council had 2,000 lunatics in charge for whom they had no asylum accommodation. He frankly admitted the asylums were somewhat overcrowded, not to an extent prejudicial to health, but in a way that would be affected by the clause. Although the clause was so reasonable in itself that it was impossible to oppose it, yet he trusted that in putting the clause in force some allowance would be made for the condition of things that had necessarily arisen in the case of lunacy in London.
Clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 20 (Dissolution of agreement to unite), 21 (Transfer of property of subscribers on dissolution of union), and 22 (Regulations as to infectious maladies), ordered to stand part of the Bill.
§ Clause 23,—