§ Mr. WILLIAM PEARCEasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether the manufacturers and importers of fertilisers and feeding stuffs lent their co-operation to the Department of Agriculture in the enactment of the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act of 1893 and 1906, on the specific understanding that no prosecution under the Act, which is criminal in its application, should be instituted without the previous consent of the Board of Agriculture; and, if so, what action the Board of Agriculture or the Government propose to adopt with reference to any legislative proposal for the abolition of the power of the Board of Agriculture to veto prosecutions?
§ Sir E. STRACHEYThe Board are aware that the manufacturers and importers of fertilisers and feeding stuffs regard as important the provision that certain prosecutions under the Act shall not be instituted without the Board's consent. The Board are considering what action they shall take with regard to the two Bills which have been introduced containing clauses repealing their provision.