§ SIR F. CAWLEY (Lancashire, Prestwich)To ask Mr. Attorney-General whether his attention has been called to a case tried before Mr. Judge Parry in Manchester, in which a woman named Pointon recovered £37 10s. from a company called the Provincial Homes Investment Company; whether he is aware that the learned Judge described the representations which had been made by the said company as fraudulent, and whether he is aware that a large number of comparatively poor people have been induced to place their savings with this company; and whether the Public Prosecutor proposes to take any steps to enable these people to get their money back, and to prevent the Provincial Homes Investment Company from obtaining money from others under false pretences.
§ THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL (Sir W. ROBSON, South Shields)said he had inquired into this matter, and had ascertained that morning that the case was under appeal, and, in those circumstances, he thought it better to defer any statement as to any action that might be advisable.
§ SIR F. CAWLEYIs the hon. Gentleman aware that there are other similar companies that are taking poor people's money and defrauding them?
§ SIR W. ROBSONsaid that there had been a Report by a Committee of the House which indicated that there were many such companies in existence, but he thought this particular company had the good fortune to be left out of that Report as being free from the evils attributed to other companies.
§ MR. BYLESasked whether the hon. Gentleman would bring the matter to the attention of the Board of Trade in order to stop these businesses.
§ SIR W. ROBSONsaid he had made full and careful personal inquiries into the matter, but it was an extremely difficult one to deal with. The law on the subject was not very strong to enable him to deal with such cases.
§ MR. VINCENT KENNEDY (Cavan, W.)asked whether the hon. Gentleman was aware that there was a very full list of such doubtful traders and fraudulent companies, and would he ask the Home Office to supply it to the public.
§ SIR W. ROBSONsaid he was not aware of that, but he would be very careful how he advised a public department to publish a black list of that character.