§ MR. P. A. TAYLORasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether it is true, as reported in the "Midland Echo" of the 17th July, that at the Sedgley Police Court on the 16th July, one of the sitting magistrates addressed a woman, who was charged with neglecting to send her child to school, in these words—
If I was your husband, and you persisted in throwing my hard-earned money away, I should give you the strap;and, again—I tell you, a woman like you deserves the strap;and, if such language was used, what steps he proposes to take in the matter?
§ SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT, in reply, said, that he had received a communication from the clerk to the magistrate in question, to the effect that these remarks were intended to be taken in a humorous sense, and were not meant seriously. It would, perhaps, be well, however, to avoid such joking on the Bench, if it were at all likely to be taken seriously.