§ MR. MONTGOMERY (Somersetshire, Bridgwater)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that Mr. W. G. Palmer of Merridge, Spaxton, near Bridgwater, applied on September 29th, 1904, to the Bridgwater county petty sessional magistrates for a certificate of exemption from vaccination of his child, and was refused; that subsequently he was prosecuted for refusing to have his child vaccinated; that the same bench made an order, with 10s. 6d. costs, directing him to have his child vaccinated, and afterwards 711 fined him 20s. and 2s. costs for disobeying that order; that goods to the value of £10 have been seized to be sold in liquidation of the fine and costs which Mr. Palmer refuses to pay on the ground that they were illegally imposed; and whether, under the circumstances, the President of the Local Government Board will countermand such sale.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Gladstone.) My right hon. friend has asked me to answer this Question. I have no information with regard to the facts of the case beyond that furnished by the hon. Member in the Question; but, assuming his statement to be accurate, I may say at once that neither I nor any other Department of the Executive Government have power to interfere with the execution of a warrant of distress issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. It does not appear on what ground the validity of the magistrates' order is disputed, but if any question of law is involved that could only be determined by a Court of Law.