§ Mr. KEIR HARDIEasked the Home Secretary whether his attention had been 1004 drawn to the sentence of four months' imprisonment in the first division passed on Arthur Fletcher Horsley for unlawfully printing and publishing a scandalous and seditious libel against the Members of the Government of His Majesty and against the peace; whether the offence was a political one; and, if so, whether he will seek to so amend the law as to ensure that women convicted of political offences shall not be subject to less favoured treatment than men?
§ Mr. GLADSTONEIt was pleaded on Horsley's behalf that, so far as he was concerned, the offence was not political, and that plea was accepted by the judge in passing the lenient sentence of four months' imprisonment. Had he been actuated by political motive his offence would have assumed a much graver aspect. Prisoners, whether male or female, convicted of publishing seditious libels must by statute be placed in the first division. There are no grounds for suggesting that women are subject to less favoured treatment than men convicted of similar offences.
§ Mr. KEIR HARDIEMay I ask whether the publishing of a scandalous and seditious libel is a more heinous crime than seeking to interview the Prime Minister?
§ Mr. GLADSTONEThe question of the magnitude of the crime is, of course, a question for the courts.