§ LORD BALCARRES (Lancashire, Chorley)On behalf of the hon. Member for Cambridge, Wisbech (Mr. C. T. GILES), I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Truck Act 1896 has any application to contracts of employment made before the Act came into operation; and whether the scale of deductions and fines under such contracts can still be enforced?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYThe Act makes it illegal to impose any fine or make any deduction, after the date of its coming into operation, except in pursuance of or in accordance with such a contract as is required by the Act. If, therefore, a contract made before that date is not such a contract as is required by the Act, no fines or deductions can be imposed under it; and though not itself made illegal, it becomes inoperative so far as fines or deductions are concerned.