§ *SIR CHARLES DILKE (Gloucester, Forest of Dean)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to a case at Morley, in which the ex mayor, Alderman Scarth, charged at the instance of the Factory Inspector with a breach of the Factory Act, was fined 1s. and costs by the Borough Bench for allowing the cleaning of machinery in motion by a male young person; and whether a report can be obtained from the inspector on the circumstances of the case?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEY,) Lancashire, BlackpoolI have received a report from the inspector upon this case. The proceedings were not for allowing the cleaning of machinery in motion, but, under the Act of 1895, for allowing a person to be between the fixed and traversing portions of a self-acting machine without the machine being stopped on the outward run. I am informed that this dangerous practice, now prohibited, has been common in the district, and trust that the publicity given to the present case will lead to its discontinuance. The amount of penalty was a matter within the discretion of the magistrates, but I understand they took into consideration the prevalence of the practice up till now, and the fact that no previous complaints had been made against the defendant.