§ Lord HENRY CAVENDISH-BENTINCKasked whether the Home Secretary's attention has been called to the prosecution recently taken by one of His Majesty's inspectors of factories and workshops against Messrs. Russell and Woolven, down quilt manufacturers, of Clifton Street, Finsbury, in the course of which it was shown that fines at the rate of 1d. per minute for time lost had been deducted from the wages of girls earning, respectively, 6s. and 8s. a week; whether the magistrate who heard the case dismissed the summonses on the ground that, although the deduction of 1d. a minute for girls earning such small wages was not reasonable, he would not convict, because the fines had been tactfully administered; and whether, in view of the effect of this decision upon the administration of the Truck Acts, he is prepared to take any action in the matter?
§ Mr. McKENNAI have received a report of the proceedings in this case. The magistrate, in giving his decision, said he wished it to be clearly understood that he did not consider the fine provided for in the contract to be a fair and reasonable fine if enforced systematically, but he felt himself bound by the words "having regard to all the circumstances of the case" which are contained in the Act, and, having heard evidence that led him to believe that the contract was not harshly carried out, and that the fines were often 1015 remitted if an explanation was given, he came to the conclusion that the circumstances did not warrant a conviction. I cannot agree with this view, but I have now no power to take any further action in the matter. Should a similar case occur, an appeal will, if possible, be taken to the High Court.