§ MR. ALEXANDER HASTIESir, I beg to ask the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer if it is to be clearly understood, under the terms of the late Treasury Minute relating to the sale of coffee and chicory, that it will he considered a breach of the law to sell coffee without any label of description except in a pure and unmixed state; and that if coffee so sold without being labelled shall prove to be mixed with chicory, or whether labelled or not shall prove to be mixed with any other extraneous substance, the party selling it will be liable to prosecution; and if, in case of an information being laid for 314 a breach of the law, the proper authorities will prosecute the offenders?
§ The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERSir, in answer to the question of the hon. Gentleman, I have to state that the concession which is made under the terms of the late Treasury Minute is intended to be strictly limited to the terms of the Minute in which it is conveyed, and is not intended as a general relaxation of the law with regard to the adulteration of coffee; that it is a breach of the law to sell coffee without any label of description, except in a pure and unmixed state; that if coffee so sold without being labelled shall prove to be mixed with chicory, the party will be prosecuted; whether labelled or not, if it prove to be mixed with any other extraneous substance, the party shall be liable to prosecution; and in the event of an information being laid, the revenue department will do their best to bring home the charge to a conviction.