§ MR. J. ROWLANDS (Finsbury, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to a case heard before Mr. Slade at the Southwark Police Court on Friday last, when the authorities of St. George-the-Martyr were compelled to bring five cartloads of putrid herrings through the crowded streets of the parish to the police court in order to have the fish condemned; whether there are any other means by which the Magistrate's sanction can be secured without endangering the health of the populace; and whether, if no such power at present exists, he can see his way to have the law amended?
§ MR. ASQUITHThe Magistrate informs me that in his view of the law he has only power to condemn what he has actually seen himself. If this be so the law is, in my opinion, in an unsatis- 832 factory state, and I will consider whether legislation is necessary.