MR. MARKKAMI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to a large placard posted on the stations of the South Eastern and Chatham Railways giving the names and addresses of seventeen persons convicted in the Police Courts during the month of March, 1904, for trespassing and travelling without tickets on the lines of these companies; and whether, seeing these persons have been 994 punished for their offences, he will advise these railway companies to discontinue the practice of inflicting further punishment on persons who have purged their offences in Courts of justice, and, failing a satisfactory reply, will he introduce legislation to render illegal such action by railway companies.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURRailway companies adopting the action referred to by the hon. Member do so on their own responsibility. I am not prepared to intervene in the matter.