§ MR. JESSE COLLINGS (Birmingham, Bordesley)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, whether gun-barrels, pistols, and actions are sent from the Continent to be proved at the Birmingham Proof House, and are afterwards finished and sold in this country, or sent back to the Continent to be finished and sold as English make; and, 1711 if so, whether this proceeding is an infringement of the Merchandise Marks Act?
§ MR. BRYCEI am informed that gun-barrels, pistols, and actions are sent from the Continent to be proved at the Birmingham Proof House, and that the Guardians of the Proof House are required under the Gun-barrel Proof Act, 1868, to prove and stamp all barrels sent to them regardless of origin. I apprehend, although the point may not be free from doubt, that the application of the English proof mark would not amount to an indication of origin, but if the foreign barrels are subsequently marked with a mark indicating English origin, a false trade description would be applied to the goods within the meaning of the Merchandise Marks Act.
§ MR. JESSE COLLINGSWill the right hon. Gentleman take any steps that may be necessary to put a stop to a practice which is so detrimental to the country?
§ MR. BRYCEI will consider the matter, but as at present advised, my impression is that nothing can be done without further legislation.
§ MR. JESSE COLLINGSWill the right hon. Gentleman undertake legislation to prevent a practice which is so injurious to the British gun trade?