HC Deb 23 May 1898 vol 58 c331
CAPTAIN PHILLPOTTS (Devon, Torquay)

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been called to the advertisements that are now being publicly displayed in the streets of certain persons who profess to tell fortunes by palmistry and other means; whether such practices are illegal; and if he proposes to take any steps to suppress the same?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT

My attention had not been called to these advertisements before I saw the Question of my honourable and gallant Friend. The practice of palmistry is not in itself illegal; an offence is only committed where there is the intention to impose. Suspicious cases are watched by the police, and, wherever there is evidence that fraud or imposition is being practised, they will prosecute the offender.