BREAD ACT, 6 and 7 WILL. IV. c. 37 (1836).

Sec. 1. The Preamble, repealing the then existing Act 3 Geo. IV. c. 106. Sec. 2. Provides that bread may be made of flour, or meal of wheat, barley, rye, oats, buckwheat, Indian corn, peas, beans, rice, or potatoes, or any of them, and with any common salt, pure water, eggs, milk, barm, leaven, potato or other yeast, and mixed in such proportions as the bakers shall think fit, and with no other ingredient or matter whatsoever, subject to the regulations hereinafter contained.

Sec. 3. Weight and Size.-It shall be lawful for the several bakers or sellers of bread to make and sell bread made of such weight or size as such bakers or sellers of bread shall think fit.

Sec. 4. To be sold only by Weight.-That from and after the commencement of this Act all bread sold beyond the limits aforesaid (that is, beyond the weekly bills of mortality, and ten miles of the Royal Exchange, London), shall be sold by the several bakers or sellers of bread respectively beyond the said limits by weight; and in case any baker or seller of bread beyond the limits aforesaid shall sell or cause to be sold bread in any other manner than by weight, then and in such case every such baker or seller of bread shall for every such offence forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding 40s., which the magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, before whom such offender or offenders shall be convicted, shall order and direct: Provided always, that nothing in this Act contained shall extend or be construed to extend to prevent or hinder any such baker or seller of bread from selling bread usually sold under the denomination of French or fancy bread or rolls without previously weighing the same.

Note.-Bread usually sold as fancy bread at the date of the Act, but not usually sold as such at the time of the sale, held not to fall under the proviso. The Queen v. Wood, 4 Q. B. 559.

Sec. 5. Bakers to use Avoirdupois Weight.-That the several bakers or sellers of bread respectively, beyond the said limits in the sale of bread, shall use avoirdupois weight of sixteen ounces to the pound, according to the standard in the Exchequer, and the several gradations of the same for any less quantity than a pound; and in case any such baker or seller of bread shall at any time use any other than the avoirdupois weight, and the several gradations of the same, he, she, or they shall for every such offence forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding £5, nor less than 40s., as the magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, before whom such conviction shall take place, shall from time to time order and adjudge.

Note.-Bread sold in any other manner than by weight subjects the seller in the penalty when deficient in weight, though purchaser did not ask the loaf to be weighed, but only asked for a 4 lb. loaf. The Queen v. Saunders, 4 Q. B. 565. Same v. Hill, 5 Q. B. 453.

Sec. 6. Bakers to provide Beams, etc.-That every baker or seller of bread beyond the limits aforesaid, shall cause to be fixed in some conspicuous part of his, her, or their shop, on or near the counter, a beam and scales with proper weights, or other sufficient balance, in order that all bread there sold may from time to time be weighed in the presence of the purchaser or purchasers thereof, except as aforesaid; and in case any such baker or seller of bread shall neglect to fix such beam and scales, or other sufficient balance, in manner aforesaid, or to provide and keep for use proper beam and scales and proper weights or balance, or shall have or use any incorrect or false beam or scales or balance, or any false weight not being of the weight it purports to be, according to the standard in the Exchequer, then and in every such case, he, she, or they shall for every such false beam and scales and balance, or false weight, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding

£5, which the magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, before whom such offender or offenders shall be convicted, shall order and direct.

Note.-A blunder has been obviously committed in the sixth section (copied from the London Act, 3 Geo. iv. c. 106), which renders the penalty for not having beams, scales, and weights, inoperative. It appears that the clause, as it originally stood, made the penalty of £5 applicable to every such omission, or the having false instruments for weight. Some one had desired to increase the punishment in the latter case, and introduced the words, 'for every such false beam and scales or balance, or false weight,' and thereby he has thrown out the penalty applicable to the previous part of the clause. Some years ago numerous convictions were obtained in Perthshire under this clause for the mere omission to have weighing apparatus. An appeal was taken to the Circuit Court by a baker in Errol, founded on the omission of any penalty for that particular offence. A search was made into the rolls of Parliament, and the history of the clause and origin of the omission discovered as above, when, with the advice of Crown counsel, the conviction was given up. This affords another argument for the necessity of the management of bills in Parliament being entrusted to one skilled person, who should be responsible for the whole framework of the statute, from the first to the last. (See, as to this, the author's Curiosities of Legislation, 1863.) It is believed that, notwithstanding the defect (which at first reading is by no means apparent), numerous convictions are still erroneously obtained, both in England and in Scotland, for the offence of omitting to have weighing apparatus in the shop. In some counties convictions have also been obtained where the baker has sold without actually weighing the bread in presence of the purchaser, though not asked to do so. Being a penal statute, the interpretation must be strict, and cannot, therefore, be extended to cases not actually provided for. But it may be noticed, that though the Act for the abolition of unnecessary oaths, 5 and 6 Will. Iv. c. 62 (1835), provides for no penalty either against the justice or party swearing in England, a justice had sentence of one month's imprisonment for administering a voluntary oath-Reg. v. Nott, 1 C. M. 288 (Q. B.), 29th May 1843; and therefore a penalty may be understood always to follow the commission of an act forbidden. It is worthy of remark, that in the extension of the Bread Act to Ireland (1 and 2 Vict. c. 28, 1838) the error is corrected, and the refusal to weigh is also, with propriety, included in the penal offence. In the sixth section there is no obligation to weigh, though the apparatus is provided to be kept for weighing, and the buyer may refuse to take without weighing. Contrast the sixth with the seventh section of the Act, where the penalty is imposed for not having weighing apparatus, or having such, refusing to weigh. But see note under sec. 5.

Sec. 7. Bakers delivering by Cart, etc.-That every baker or seller of bread beyond the limits aforesaid, and every journeyman, servant, or other person employed by such baker or seller of bread, who shall convey or carry out bread for sale in and from any cart or other carriage, shall be provided with and shall constantly carry in such cart or other carriage a correct beam and scales with proper weights, or other sufficient balance, in order that all bread sold by every such baker or seller of bread, or by his or her journeyman, servant, or other person, may from time to time be weighed in the presence of the purchaser or purchasers thereof, except as aforesaid:' and in case any such baker or seller of bread, or his or her journeyman, servant, or other person, shall at any time carry out or deliver any bread without being provided with such beam and scales with proper weights or other sufficient balance, or whose weights shall be deficient in their due weight according to the standard in the Exchequer, or shall at any time refuse to weigh any bread purchased of him, her, or them, or delivered by his, her, or their journeyman, servant, or other person, in the presence of the person or persons purchasing or receiving the same, then and in every such case every This applies to French or fancy bread or rolls, excepted in the fourth clause; but what are included in the first two denominations is not very apparent.

such baker or seller of bread shall for every such offence forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding £5, which the magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, before whom such offender or offenders shall be convicted shall order and direct.

Note.-A baker who was in the habit of delivering bread to a regular customer from his cart, not carrying with him scales or weights, held rightly convicted under sec. 7.-Robinson v. Cliffe, L. R. 1 Ex., D. 294.

Sec. 8. Adulterating Bread.-That no baker or other person or persons who shall make bread for sale beyond the limits aforesaid, nor any journeyman or other servant of any such baker or other person, shall at any time or times in the making of bread for sale beyond such limits use any mixture or ingredient whatsoever in the making of such bread, other than and except as herein before mentioned, on any account or under any colour or pretence whatsoever, upon pain that every such person, whether master or journeyman, servant or other person, who shall offend in the premises, and shall be convicted of any such offence by the oath, or in case of a Quaker by affirmation, of one or more credible witness or witnesses, or by his, her, or their own confession, shall for every such offence forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding £10 nor less than £5, or in default thereof shall, by warrant under the hands and seals of the magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, before whom such offender shall be convicted, be apprehended and committed to the house of correction or some prison of the city, county, borough, or place where the offence shall have been committed, or the offender or offenders shall be apprehended, there to remain for any time not exceeding six calendar months with or without hard labour from the time of such commitment, unless the penalty shall be sooner paid, or any such magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, shall think fit and order; and it shall be lawful for the magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, before whom any such offender or offenders shall be convicted, to cause the offender's name, place of abode, and offence to be published in some newspaper which shall be printed or published in or near the city, county, borough, or place where the offence shall have been committed, and to defray the expense of publishing the same out of the money to be forfeited as last mentioned, in case any shall be so forfeited, paid, or recovered.

See 5th Nov. 1871, Core v. Laines, 72 B. 135.

Sec. 9. Adulterating Corn, Meal, or Flour.-That if any person beyond the limits aforesaid, shall put into any corn, meal, or flour which shall be ground, dressed, bolted, or manufactured for sale beyond such limits, either at the time of grinding, dressing, bolting, or manufacturing the same, or at any other time, any ingredient or mixture whatsoever not being the real and genuine produce of the corn or grain which shall be so ground; or if any person shall beyond the limits aforesaid knowingly sell or offer or expose for sale, either separately or mixed, any meal or flour of one sort of corn or grain as the meal or flour of any other sort of corn or grain, or any ingredient whatsoever mixed with the meal or flour so sold or offered or exposed for sale, then and in every such case every person so offending shall, upon conviction before any one or more magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, of the city, county, borough, or place where such offence shall have been committed, on the oath, or in case of a Quaker by affirmation, of one or more credible witness or witnesses, or by his, her, or their own confession, forfeit and pay for every such offence any sum not exceeding £20 nor less than £5, which such magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, before whom any such offender or offenders shall be convicted, shall think fit and order. See Adulteration of Food Act.

Notes.-In England it has been held-1. That it is a misdemeanour at common law knowingly to give injurious food to any person to eat, whether incited by

malice or a desire of gain.-Reg. v. Mackarty, 6 East 133. See Scotch case, Bannatyne, 1847, Ark. 361.

2. A baker is liable to indictment for selling bread containing pernicious ingredients, even alum in a shape which renders it noxious.-Rex v. Dixon, 3 M. and Sel. 11. But guilty knowledge must be proved against the seller, Core, 7 Q. B. 135.

3. An indictment will not lie against a miller for receiving good barley and returning a mixture of oats and barley which is musty.-Rex v. Hayes, 4 M. and

Sel. 214.

4. It is not necessary to set forth the noxious materials, or to state an intention to injure.-Rex v. Dixon, 3 M. and Sel. 16.

Sec. 10. Mixed Bread.-That every person who shall make for sale, or sell or expose for sale, beyond the limits aforesaid, any bread made wholly or partially of peas or beans, or potatoes, or of any sort of corn or grain other than wheat, sna. cause all such bread to be marked with a large Roman M; and if any person shall at any time beyond the limits aforesaid make, or sell, or expose for sale, any such bread without such mark as hereinbefore directed, then and in every such case every person so offending shall, upon conviction in manner hereinafter mentioned, forfeit and pay for every pound weight of such bread, and so in proportion for any less quantity which shall be so made for sale, or sold or exposed for sale, without being so marked as aforesaid, any sum not exceeding 10s., as the magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, before whom such conviction shall take place, shall from time to time order and adjudge: Provided always, that nothing in this Act contained shall extend or be construed to extend to require any bread made of the meal or flour of wheat only, and in the making of which potato yeast shall be used, to be marked as herein before is mentioned.

Sec. 11. Search Warrant.-That it shall be lawful for any magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices of the peace, within the limits of their respective jurisdictions, and also for any peace officer or officers authorized by warrant under the hand and seal or hands and seals of any such magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices (and which warrant any such magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, is and are hereby empowered to grant), at seasonable times in the daytime, to enter into any house, mill, shop, stall, bakehouse, bolting house, pastry warehouse, outhouse, or ground of or belonging to any miller, mealman, or baker, or other person who shall grind grain, or dress or bolt meal or flour, or make bread for reward or sale, beyond the limits aforesaid, and to search or examine whether any mixture or ingredient not the genuine produce of the grain such meal or flour shall import or ought to be shall have been mixed up with or put into any meal or flour in the possession of such miller, mealman, or baker, either in the grinding of any grain at the mill, or in the dressing, bolting, or manufacturing thereof, whereby the purity of any meal or flour is or shall be in any wise adulterated, or whether any mixture or ingredient other than is allowed by this Act shall have been mixed up with or put into any dough or bread in the possession of any such baker or other person, whereby any such dough or bread is or shall be in anywise adulterated, and also to search for any mixture or ingredient which may be intended to be used in or for any such adulteration or mixture; and if on any such search it shall appear that any such meal, flour, dough, or bread so found shall have been so adulterated by the person in whose possession it shall then be, or any mixture or ingredient shall be found which shall seem to have been deposited there in order to be used in the adulteration of meal, flour, or bread, then and in every such case it shall be lawful for every such magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices of the peace, or officer or officers authorized as aforesaid respectively, within the limits of their respective jurisdictions, to seize

and take any meal, flour, dough, or bread which shall be found in any such search, and deemed to have been adulterated, and all ingredients and mixtures which shall be found and deemed to have been used, or intended to be used, in or for any such adulteration as aforesaid; and such part thereof as shall be seized by any peace officer or officers authorized as aforesaid, shall, with all convenient speed after seizure, be carried to the nearest resident magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices of the peace, within the limits of whose jurisdiction the same shall have been so seized; and if any magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, who shall make any such seizure in pursuance of this Act, or to whom anything so seized under the authority of this Act shall be brought, shall adjudge that any such meal, flour, dough, or bread so seized, shall have been adulterated by any mixture or ingredient put therein other than is allowed by this Act, or shall adjudge that any ingredient or mixture so found as aforesaid shall have been deposited or kept where so found for the purpose of adulterating meal, flour, or bread, then and in any such case every such magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices of the peace, is and are hereby required, within the limits of their respective jurisdictions, to dispose of the same as he or they, in his or their discretion, shall from time to time think proper.

Note.-It has been doubted in England whether a general search warrant would be legal under this clause.-Chitty's Burns' Justice, vol. i. p. 434. See Scotch case, 30th Jan. 1865, Bell, 5 Irvine 57, as to legality of general search warrants.

Sec. 12. Ingredients for Adulteration found in Premises.-That every miller, mealman, or baker, beyond the limits aforesaid, in whose house, mill, shop, stall, bakehouse, bolting-house, pastry warehouse, outhouse, ground, or possession, any ingredient or mixture shall be found, which shall, after due examination, be adjudged by any magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices of the peace, to have been deposited there for the purpose of being used in adulterating meal, flour, or bread, shall, on being convicted of any such offence, either by his, her, or their own confession, or by the oath, or in case of a Quaker by affirmation, of one or more credible witness or witnesses, forfeit and pay on every such conviction any sum not exceeding £10, nor ess than 40s., for the first offence, £5 for the second offence, and £10 for every ubsequent offence, or in default of payment thereof shall, by warrant under the hand and seal or hands and seals of the magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, before whom such offender shall be convicted, be apprehended and committed to the house of correction, or some prison of the city, county, or place where the offence shall have been committed, or the offender or offenders shall be apprehended, there to remain for any time not exceeding six calendar months, with or without hard labour, from the time of such commitment (unless the penalty be sooner paid), as any such magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, shall think fit and order; and it shall be lawful for the magistrate or magistrates, justice or justices, before whom any such offender shall be convicted, to cause the offender's name, place of abode, and offence, to be published in some newspaper which shall be printed or published in or near the city, county, borough, or place where the offence shall have been committed, and to defray the expense of publishing the same out of the money to be forfeited as last mentioned, in case any shall be so forfeited, paid, or recovered.

Sec. 13. Obstructing Search.-That if any person or persons shall wilfully obstruct or hinder any such search as herein before is authorized to be made, or the seizure of any meal, flour, dough, or bread, or of any ingredient or mixture which shall be found on any such search, and deemed to have been lodged with an intent to adulterate the purity or wholesomeness of any meal, flour, dough, or bread, or shall