§ Sir CHARLES SWANNasked the Home Secretary whether he will consider the possibility, with the view of preventing the extinction of a great number of small shops in working-class districts and the destitution of their owners, of allowing the use of small oil lamps in shops, duly protected from casting light outside as required by law, up to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and 9.30 p.m. on the other nights of the week except Sundays; and whether he is aware that a similar arrangement has been adopted in France and elsewhere abroad?
Mr. SAMUELThe Home Office Order is based on the principle, already recognised by Parliament in the Shops Acts, of requiring all shops which carry on the same class of business to close at the same time. The provision in the French Order, which the right hon. Baronet suggests should be applied, would, I am satisfied, be strongly objected to by the great majority of shopkeepers in this country.