§ Mr. CROMBIE (Kincardineshire)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that cheques drawn on paper which has not an embossed stamp, but to which an ordinary adhesive stamp has been attached, are sometimes returned, alter being cashed, without the adhesive stamp being obliterated; and whether the obligation to obliterate the stamp lies with the drawer of the cheque or with the banker.
§ * SIR M. HICKS BEACHunder the provisions of Section 34, sub-Section (1) of the Stamp Act, 1891, the drawer of a cheque stamped by means of an adhesive stamp is the person with whom lies the responsibility for obliterating the stamp. Unless he does so the cheque is not to be deemed duly stamped. I have no knowledge of the extent to which there may be failure to observe the law in this respect.