HC Deb 19 June 1893 vol 13 cc1318-9
COLONEL HOWARD VINCENT

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if, having regard to the opinion expressed by him before a deputation he was so good as to receive on the 6th ultimo from the workers in most of the productive trades of the country, that to mark foreign watch works faintly as foreign, in letters illegible to ordinary-eyesight, and surrounded by a bold English warranty, is a fraudulent evasion of the spirit of "The Merchandise Marks Act, 1887," and equally so the marking of foreign printed books and drawings as foreign in fugitive inks, or subsequently hiding such mark, he will cause the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown to be taken on the case recently submitted with evidence to the Board of Trade on behalf of the Coventry Watch Trade Association; and should the present law not be strong enough to protect the public desirous of encouraging home labour from such fraud, will he at once introduce and press forward a short auxiliary measure, with a view to the more effectual prevention of false marking, and the safeguarding of British industrial interests in a time of such depression among the masses of the people?

Mr. NEWDIGATE (Warwickshire, Nuneaton)

I beg at the same time to ask the right hon. Gentleman if, having regard to the opinion expressed by him before a deputation he was so good as to receive on the 6th May, that to mark foreign watch works as foreign in nearly illegible letters, and surrounded by a bold English warranty, is an evasion of "The Merchandise Marks Act, 1887," he will cause the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown to be taken on the case recently submitted with evidence to the Board of Trade on behalf of the Coventry Watch Trade Association; and should the law on this subject not prove strong enough to protect the public desirous of encouraging home labour, whether he will at once introduce and press forward a measure to amend "The Merchandise Marks Act, 1887"?

MR. MUNDELLA

I am advised that there is no point in the case recently submitted by the Coventry Watch Trade Association upon which the opinion of the Law Officers could usefully be taken, inasmuch as the watch does bear a description of the country where it was made in words which cannot be said to be illegible. In administering the powers of a penal Statute cases must always arise which may be evasions of the Act, but are not susceptible of successful prosecution. The Merchandise Marks Act is strong enough to insure the successful prosecution of those who break the letter of the law; but no amendment which could be devised would, with certainty, lead to the conviction of persons who are guilty of what the hon. Gentleman describes as a "fraudulent evasion of its spirit."

COLONEL HOWARD VINCENT

Is not the object of the law to have foreign goods plainly marked, so that the ordinary purchaser may be able to see they are of foreign origin? I have one of the watches here, and my hon. Friends around me agree in thinking that it is English made.

MR. MUNDELLA

I have told the hon. and gallant Member that my Legal Advisers say that the watch is not fraudulently marked, and that the words are legible. The hon. Gentleman knows they could not be stamped on the case, seeing that the case is English made.

COLONEL HOWARD VINCENT

I will hand the watch to the right hon. Gentleman.