§ SIR MANCHERJEE BHOWNAGGREE (Bethnal Green, N.E.)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that a bicycle belonging to a resident of Green Street, Bethnal Green, which was distrained on the 30th September last for non-payment of a fine imposed on him at the Worship Street Police Court under the Vaccination Acts, was sent to a sale room at Holloway to be disposed of; and will he explain the reason of its being sent such a distance from the residence of the owner instead of being sold in the district, so as to allow of his being present at the sale.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Akers Douglas.) I am not aware that the broker entrusted with the sale of goods taken under a distress warrant is bound to select a place of sale with a view to the convenience of the owner. He is only bound to see that the sale is a fair one, and that the charges are not unreasonable. In the present case the place was the one usually used by the broker employed, and the distance (some three miles) did not apparently prevent the owner from being present, as I am informed that he attended and bought in the bicycle.