§ MR. AUBERON HERBERTasked Mr. Attorney General; Whether the Penalties Law Amendment Act (28 and 29 Vic. c. 127) does not provide for the recovery of any penalty not exceeding five pounds inflicted upon summary conviction; and if therefore there is any foundation for the statement that penalties inflicted under the Wild Birds Protection Act of 1872 cannot be recovered?
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,in reply, said, that there was no foundation for the statement referred to in the Question of his hon. Friend. The law he believed to be this—That when power was given to a magistrate, either directly or impliedly, to convict summarily, the Act commonly known as Jarvis's Act, came into operation; and there could be no 101 doubt that the penalties referred to were recoverable. He wished, however, to remark, that the adage said, that whenever the opinion of a lawyer was obtained without a fee, it was worth what it cost; but in the present case he hoped that the opinion was at least worth the fee.