§ GENERAL LAURIE (Pembroke and Haverford West)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the dismissal by the presiding magistrate at Marylebone Police Court, on the 16th May, 1899, of two summonses against carmen for permitting their vans to stand on the roadway longer than was necessary for loading or unloading, on the ground that it was too trivial, and that such petty prosecutions were an abuse of the statute; whether he is aware that the practice of obstructing the traffic by leaving large vans often in two ranks in the streets, with the horses feeding, and often without anyone in charge, for a 1185 considerable time, is causing both a serious obstruction and a serious danger; and whether, in the Bill for regulating the traffic of the metropolis, he will insert such provisions as will enable the police to prevent such obstructions, and will make the enactment so clear that magistrates cannot refuse to convict.
§ *THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR THE HOME OFFICE (Mr. JESSE COLLINGS,) Birmingham, BordesleyThe answer to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. The police possess power to deal with—and they do deal with—cases of obstruction arising from vans, &c., standing longer than may be necessary for loading or unloading, and the Secretary of State is not prepared to say that the obstruction or danger arising from the source indicated is unduly in excess of what must inevitably arise from the commercial needs of the metropolis. The Secretary of State does not think it will be necessary to introduce any further provisions for the purpose suggested into the Bill now before the House.