Mr. Leighton on Tuesday evening moved a resolution con- demning
the system of allowing private persons to profit by the continued incarceration of lunatics, and affirming that all lunatics should be committed to the care of the State. An interest- ing discussion arose, in which all the Members who knew most of the subject,—Mr. Dillwyn, for instance, Sir R. Cross, Mr. Sclater-Booth,—strongly insisted upon the abuses to which pri- vate asylums are liable,—Mr. Dillwyn boldly saying that there are even asylums whose proprietors will mention the names of medical men who may be applied to, with some confidence, to give the necessary certificates for incarceration,— while those members who did not know much of the matter, like Mr. Beresford-Hope, ridiculed the danger of such abuses. The dis- cussion, however, turned finally on Mr. Leighton's proposal to commit lunatics to the care of the State, rather than of asylums .supported by county rates,—which did not recommend itself much to the House, and the resolution was negatived, by a majority of 81 to 34.
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