MR. FENWICKI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware of the fact that a lad named Arthur Brown-john, who was engaged at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, with a view to his becoming an apprentice in the classical composing department, on making application 1526 to the medical officer for a certificate of physical fitness, as required by the Factory Act, was refused such certificate on the ground that he had not been vaccinated; and whether the medical officer is justified in withholding the certificate on such grounds; and, if so, whether he is prepared to advise the Government to amend the Law in this respect?
§ MR. MATTHEWSNo, Sir. The certificate was not refused by the medical officer, but signed in the usual way. It was stated in the "Remarks" column of the form that the lad was "unvaccinated." The Controller of the Clarendon Press considered this to be an insufficient certificate, and refused to employ the lad.