§ MR. CREMER (Shoreditch, Haggerston)I beg to ask the Attorney General whether, in the absence of any written agreement, an employer has any legal right to deduct from his workpeople the rent of the houses in which they live; and whether such deduction is not a violation of the Truck Acts? I may 874 be allowed to say that I am not responsible for the appearance of this question on the Paper, because the Attorney General answered it on Tuesday. The hon. Gentleman has, however, asked me to repeat it, and that is why the question appears on the Paper.
SIR R. WEBSTERAfter I answered the question the other day, I looked at the last word of the section, and I think there is some doubt whether or not, in the absence of any written agreement, an employer has any legal right to deduct from his workpeople the rent of the houses in which they live. It is by no means clear; but my own opinion at present is that there is a doubt on the subject.
§ MR. CREMERI should like to ask on whose authority this question was put down?
§ MR. SPEAKERIt was obviously carried over from a former day and put down under a misapprehension of the; hon. Gentleman's wishes.