§ MR. HIGHAM (Yorkshire, W.R., Sowerby)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that the police of the West Hiding of Yorkshire are making a charge of one shilling daily for the storage of passive resistors' goods; under what authority they make such a charge; will he give directions for the return of the charges thus made; whether they have his sanction as being in accordance with the scale of charges fixed by the Act, 57 Geo. 3., cap. 93.
§ MR. GLADSTONEOn the 11th January, 1905, a table of fees payable to constables of the West Riding of Yorkshire, containing a fee of one shilling per day for keeping possession of goods under distraint, was submitted by the Standing Joint Committee and approved by the Secretary of State acting under the powers given to him by section 23 of the Police Act, 1890. A legal question has since been raised, namely, whether the scale of charges fixed by the Distress (Costs) Act, 1817, (57 Geo. III., cap. 93), as extended by the Distress (Costs) Act, 1826, (7 and 8 Geo. IV., cap. 17) applies in certain cases to the exclusion of the fees approved under the Police Act, 1890. This question can only be determined by the courts of law, and I have no power to decide it or to give any directions of the nature suggested. I understand that the question has actually come before a county court, and that there is to be an appeal to the High Court.