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London, England, 1862-12-22 00:00:00

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Sir,—The Poor-law Board desire me to bring
under the notice of the guardians certain provisions
contained in 'Lunacy Acts Amendment Act, 1862,"
25 and 26 Vic., c. 111, which relate to pauper
lunatics, and affect the guardians in the discharge
of their duties. Section 19 directs so much of the
statute 16 and 17 Vic., c. 97, section 67, as requires
the relieving officer, and overseers when there is no
relieving officer, who shall hat, e knowledge that any
pauper, resident in a parish, is or is deemed to be a
lunatic, and a proper persog to lie sent to an asylum,
to give notice thereof to a justice of the peace, to be
construed as if the words in italics had been omitted.
Henceforth it will suffice for the relieving officer, or
overseer, to have knowledge that there is a pauper
resident in tl:e parish who is a lunatic; and it will
not be necessary that he should have knowledge
that the lunatic is a proper person to be sent to at:
asylum. The same clause iu the statute 16 and 17
Vic., c. 97, re quires the justices to be satisfied that
the lunatic is a proper person to be sent to the
asylum ; and this provision remains unaltered.
Section 20 of the new act prohibits the detention in
a workhouse of any lunatic, or alleged lunatic, be-
yond the period of fourteen days, unless in the
opinion of the medical officer such person is a
proper person to be kept in a workhouse, and
the accommodation therein is sufficient for his re-
ception ; and any person detained in a workhouse
in contravention of this section (that is, without
such opinion, or where the accommodation is in-
sufficient), shall be deemed to be a proper person to
be sent to an asylum, within the meaning en" 16
and 17 Vic., c. 97, section 67. The section also de-
clares that the medical officer shall, for all the pur-
poses of that act, be deemedto have knowledge that a
pauper resident within his district is a lunatic, and
a proper person to be sent to an asylum, and that it
shall be his duty to act accordingly, and further to
sign such certificate, as is contained in schedule F,
No. 3, to the above statute 16 and 17 Vic., c. 97..
Section 21 makes an addition to the form for the
quarterly list of lunatic paupers made out by the
medical officers, by providing for a return of those
who may be in the workhouse, as to whom the
medical officer is to certify whether the workhonse
is or is not sufficient for the accommodation of the
lunatics detained therein, and whether or not the
lunatics detained therein are proper persons to be
kept in a workhouse. Section .25 requires that in
the order of admission of a lunatic iZ.'to an asylum,
registered hospital, or licensed house, the name and
address of one or more of the relations of sueh luna-
tic shall, wherever it is possible, be inserted, to
whom notice of his death shall be sent in a prepaid
letter. The 31st section gives power to two or more
commissioners in lunacy where upon their visita-
tion of any workhouse it appears to them that any
lunatic, or alleged lunatic, therein is not a proper
person to be kept in a workhouse, to direct by an
order under their hands such lunatic to be received
into an asylum, and their order is to have the same
effect as that of a justice under the 16 and 17 Vic.,
c. 97, sec. 67. An appeal to the Secretary of State
for the Home Department against such order is
given to the guardians, and his order shall be bind-
ing on all parties concerned. By the 32c1 section a
similar power is given to such commissioners to
visit any pauper lunatic not in the workhouse, and
after the same examination as is required to be made
by a justice, to direct such lunatic to be received
into an asylum. According to section 33 their order
may authorise the admission into an asylum other
than that of the county or borough in which the
parish is situate from which the lunatic is sent, and
into any registered hospital or licensed house under
the same circumstances, and subject to the same con-
dition as are provided for in statute 16 and 17 Vic.,
c, 97, sec. 72. Section 34 requires the superinten-
dent of every asylum, once at the least in each half
year, to transmit to the guardians of every union
and parish a statement of the condition of every
pauper lunatic chargeable to such union or parish
This return will enable the guardians to determine
whether they should exercise the power given to
them by the statute 16 and 17 Vic., c. 97, sec. 65,
of sending a physician or other medical practitionei",
or a committee of themselves, to visit and examine
any or all the pauper lunatics chargeable to the
union in the asylum. In the event of a committee
being sent, the board recommend that only a limited
number should be appointed for the purpose, so that
there be no unnecessary expense incurred in visit-
ing. Considerable discussion has arisen between the
guardians and the auditors in the several unions,
where the latter have objected to the number of
guardians sent on such visits and the amount of the
expenses incurred in their visits. The board think
that, as a general rule, a committee of three or at
most five guardians would be sufficient for the pur-
poses of the contemplated examination. The atten-
tion of the guardians is particularly directed to
section 37, which requires the visiting committee
of every union and of every parish under a board
of guardians, once at least in each quarter of a year,
to enter in a book, to be provided and k• pt by the
master of the workhouse, such observations as they
may think fit to make respecting the dietary, ac-
commodation and treatment of the lunatics, or
alleged lunatics, for the time being in the work-
house, and farther requires that the book containing
the observations made in pursuance of this section
by the visiting guardians shall be laid by the master
before commissioners on their next visit. The board
recommend the board of guardians to provide this
book for their workhouse as soon as they conveni-
ently can do so. Section 38 contains the following
provisions in reference to the pauper lunatics under
confinement :—Two of the commissioners in lunacy,
as regards any hospital or licensed house, and two
of the committee of governors of any hospital, and
two of the visitors of any licensed house as regards
any licensed house in their jurisdiction, may per-
mit any pauper patient therein to be absent therefrom
upon trial, for such period as they may think fit, and
may make, or order to be made, an allowance to
him not exceeding his charge in such hospital or
house which shall be charged for him, and be pay-
able as if he were actually therein, but shall be paid
to him or for his benefit as they may direct. If he
do not return at the expiration of the time, and a
medical certificate that his detention as a lunatic is
no longer necessary be not sent to the proprietor or
superintendent, he may at any time within 14 days
after the expiration of the period be retaken. This
corresponds with the provision contained in the 16
and 17 Vic., c. 97, sec. 79, in regard to pauper
lunatics in asylums. Section 45 contains a special
provision as to the chargeability of pauper lunatics
whose settlement cannot be ascertained in certain
boroughs, but as its application is very limited, the
I board do not consider it necessary to enter into any
1 detail in regard to it. The board will refer to one
other section. The Bth section empowers the visi-
' tors of any asylum, and the guardians of any parish
or union within the district for which the asylum
has been provided, if they shall see fit, to make ar-
rangements subject to the approval of the commis-
sioners in lunacy, and the President of the Poor-
law Board, for the reception and care of a limited
number of chronic lunatics in the workhouse of such
parish or union, to be selected by the superinten-
dent of the asylum, and certified by him to be fit and
proper so to be removed. The board are at present
not aware of any workhouse in which any such ar-
rangetnents could conveniently be made ; but they
will be ready to consider any proposals on the sub-
ject when the visitors and the board of guardians
of any union shall fiud it convenient or practicable
to act upon this clause.—l am, &c.,
...

W. G. LUMLEY, Assistant Secretory.
To the Clerk of the Guardians.

Importing tea without colour on the leaf pre-
vents the Chinese passing off inferior leaves as in the usual
kinds. Ilorniman's Tea is uncoloured, therefore alway,
good alske. Sold in packets by 2,280 agents.
The steamer Brandon has arrived at Mahon and
will immediately proceed to drag for the electric cable
broken between France and Algeria during the late tem-
pestuous weather. The Monsieur de l'Algerse, in alluding
to this subject, states that the Minister of the Interior has
informed the Governor-General that should the present at-
tempt to repair the old cable prove unsuccessful, immediate
steps will be taken for laying down a new one, n order to
re. establish communications as soon as possible,