§ MR. J. W. MACLURE (Lancashire, S. E., Stretford)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether, with regard to the finding of the jury in the action of Hambrough v. the Mutual Assurance Company of New York, that Monson had been guilty of gross fraud, which opinion was endorsed in emphatic language by the Lord Chief Justice of England, and subsequently in the Court of Appeal by Lord Esher and Lord Justice Lopes, he will at once advise a prosecution against Alfred John Monson, the fraud having been perpetrated on the Assurance Company in Glasgow?
§ *THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR,) Clackmannan and KinrossI do not propose, upon the information in my possession, to institute proceedings against Monson in respect to the frauds to which my hon. Friend refers. It is very doubtful whether, upon the evidence which we have, we could establish a charge of fraud committed in Scotland. I may add that Monson was detained in prison in 1893 for a considerable time, awaiting his trial on a charge of murder or attempt to murder.