§ Mr. WEDGWOODI beg to ask the Home Secretary a question, of which I have given him private notice: Whether Mr. George Lansbury has been summoned to give sureties and be bound to the peace under Section 1 of the Act of 34 Edward III.; if so, will he state the words of the Act under which the powers of binding to the peace are conferred upon the magistrates, and is he aware that the Act as it stands in the Statutes of the Realm is a mistranslation of the original French?
§ Mr. McKENNAI understand that the answer to the first question is in the affirmative. The variation between the Norman-French text and the ancient translations has been set out in all the authorised editions of the Statutes since 1810. In view of the numerous cases which have come before the Courts, it is hardly likely to give rise to any difficulty.
§ Mr. WEDGWOODAre we to understand that this High Court of Parliament makes the laws of this country or that some transcriber in the fifteenth century is to make the law by which we are to be governed?
§ Mr. McKENNAI am not fully familiar with the facts of the case, but I understand that in one of the copies of this law the word "not" has been omitted, but it appears in others—the more reliable editions.
§ Mr. WEDGWOODMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he will refer to the original text of the Statute, which is to be found in the Statute Roll (Chancery), Number 1 roll, Membrane 10, which, after referring to those who have been
pilours et robeurs es parties de dela,goes onet de prendre de touz ceux qi sont de bone fame souffisant seurete de lour bon port, et les auters duement punir,and whether he will lay upon the Table of the House an authorised copy of this original document in the Record Office, coupled with an authorised translation of the same?
§ Mr. McKENNAI will consider the point brought forward by my hon. Friend, but I could not without notice answer any question on the construction of my hon. Friend's early French.
§ Mr. WEDGWOODMay I ask whether the Home Secretary has referred to the article which appeared in the "English Historical Review," of April, 1912, by two officials in the Record Office, making the case perfectly clear, and showing that the Act was only intended to refer to those persons who had come back from France after the long French war.
§ Mr. McKENNANotwithstanding the authority of the officials of the Record Office, this is really a matter to be settled by decisions of the Courts.