MR. J. ROBERTS (Denbighshire, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the practice of Sunday drinking in the open air at Cardiff; whether he is aware that, with the view of testing the legality of this proceeding, a summons was recently issued against James Donovan, who was charged with selling beer by retail, in contravention of Section 3 of "The Licensing Act, 1872"; whether he is aware that the Stipendiary Magistrate who tried the case dismissed the summons on the ground that the defendant and his associates, by assembling together under such circumstances, and by subscribing money for the purchase of beer which was consumed on the spot, constituted themselves into a bonâfide club; that the transaction was not a sale of liquor, and that, therefore, no breach of the Licensing Act was committed; whether he has been informed that this decision has had a serious effect upon the continuance of this evil, and that further 768 test cases have been brought forward; and whether, in view of the important consequences of the decision in reference to the operation of the Welsh Sunday Closing Act, he will give his view of the law upon the point?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. ASQUITH,) Fife, E.I have had my attention called to this case, and have received from the Stipendiary Magistrate a copy of his Judgment. It appears from it that he was of opinion that to authorise a conviction there must have been a sale by retail, and the defendant must have been proved to be the seller, and that he did not consider that either of these points had been established. In his view, the defendant was merely a distributor of liquor provided by a fund raised by voluntary subscriptions. I am also informed that no steps have been taken to have the case carried to a superior tribunal, and that the time for doing so has elapsed. I have no authority to interfere with a decision of acquittal, even if I disagreed with it, and I do not, therefore, think it desirable that I should express any opinion on the law as if stands.