§ MR. WILKIE (Dundee)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether in view of the manner in which the Vaccination Acts have been administered, and the treatment to which some conscientious objectors have been subjected, mainly owing to lack of uniformity in administration, he will, in the circular he is about to issue, give instructions as to the manner of examination of poor applicants, and arrange that whatever ameliorative administrative improvements are issued shall be made applicable to Scotland, where, recently, respectable citizens have been imprisoned because they held conscientiously that this practice was not only useless but dangerous.
§ * MR. GLADSTONEIn the circular which I am about to issue I propose to draw the attention of magistrates to what I am advised is the real meaning and intention of the Act, and to suggest considerations which may properly be taken into account in dealing with applications; but I have no authority to give any instructions in the matter. The Act does not extend to Scotland, and the latter part of the Question should be addressed to the Secretary for Scotland.