§ MR. CAUSTON (Southwark, W.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the great pressure that is being put upon scale and weighing machine manufacturers in order that the requirements of the Act, which will come into operation on 1st January, shall be complied with; and whether the Government will grant an extension of time for affixing the Government stamp to all weighing instruments?
§ SIR MICHAEL HICKS BEACHThe Act which was passed in July, 1889, came into operation on January 1, 1890, and provides that persons who use for trade, after January 1, 1891, any weighing instrument not verified and stamped by an Inspector of Weights and Measures shall be liable to a fine. The Government have no power to extend the date fixed, and it appears to me that unless an Inspector considers that a weighing instrument is not correct, and declines on that account to stamp it, there is no necessity for the interference of a manufacturer to adjust it. With reasonable conduct on the part of the Local Authorities and the traders, I do not see why any difficulty should arise.