§ MR. JOSEPH DEVLIN (Kilkenny, N.)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that quantities of roll tobacco, manufactured in England and Scotland, have been sold to the public as Irish roll tobacco, with the result that a branch of Irish trade is threatened; whether any prosecutions have taken place in consequence; and what steps he proposes to take to pre- 1112 vent the perpetuation of this fraud upon the public in future.
(Answered by Mr. Bonar Law.) The Board of Trade has no recent information on the subject, but they are prepared to consider, with a view to prosecution, any specific case of infringement of the Merchandise Marks Act, 1887, which is submitted under the regulations which govern prosecutions. It is of course, open to the Irish manufacturers to take proceedings themselves if they are so advised.