§ MR. SHIRLEY (Yorkshire, W.R., Doncaster)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to the enormous extent of Sunday trading at Stratford atte Bow, and in the East of London generally, in violation of the Act of Charles the Second and other statutes of the realm; and, if so, whether he will direct the police to institute such prosecutions as may be necessary to secure the suppression of such Sunday trading, and the better observance of the Lord's Day?
THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. CHILDERS) (Edinburgh, S.)In reply to my hon. Friend, I have to say that I have obtained a Police Report, from which it appears that Sunday trading, chiefly on the part of butchers and greengrocers, does prevail to a considerable extent in Stratford and other poor districts in the East of London. I am not led to believe that the practice is increasing, and no complaints have been made with respect to it. In the absence of any such complaints, and of any application under 34 & 35 Vict. c. 87—which restrains the operation of the Act of Charles II.—the Police Authorities do not feel called upon of themselves to institute proceedings under the last-mentioned Act, which is the only Act applicable to the locality.