Page:Ruffhead - The Statutes at Large - vol 9.djvu/52

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HEREAS by an Act of Parliament made in the thirty-first Year of the Reign of his late Majesty King the Second, intituled, An Act for the due making of Bread, and to regulate the Price and Assize thereof; and to pnnish Perfons who shall adulterate Meal, Flower or Bread; certain Powers are granted to the several Courts, Magistrates, and Justices of the Peace therein mentioned, to set, ascertain and appoint the Assize and Weight of Bread which shall be made for Sale, or exposed to Sale, and the Price to be paid for the same respectively, within the Bounds of their several Jurisdictions, from time to time, as they shall think proper: And it is thereby enacted, That in every assize of Bread which shall be so set and appointed, Respect shall, from time to time, be had to the Price which the Grain, Meal or Flour, whereof such Bread shall be made, shall bear in the publick Market or Markets in or near the publick Place or Places for which any such Assize shall be so at any Time set; and for ascertaining such Price of Grain, Meal, or Flour, from time to time, the several Courts, Magistrates, and Justices of the Peace therein mentioned, are thereby impowered, from time to time, as there shall be Occasion, within their several Jurisdictions, to cause the respective Prices which the several Sorts of Grain, Meal and Flour shall, from time to time, bona fide sell for in such publick Markets, to be given in and certified upon Oath unto such Court, Magistrates, or Justices of the Peace respectively, within their several Jurisdictions, by the Clerk of the Market, or by such Perfon or Persons, and in such Manner, and on such Day of the Week, as they shall respectively appoint within their several Jurisdictions ; and the Price which shall be so certified shall, from time to time, be entered by the respective Person or Persons who shall certify the same, in a Book or Books to be provided and kept by him or them for that Purpose, in the Form and Manner as therein directed : And whereas the above Method of ascertaining the Price of Wheat and Rye, and the Flour and Meal made of those Grains, cannot take Place within that Part of Great Britain called Scotland, by reason that there are few publick Markets for such Grains, Flour or Meal, within that Part of the United Kingdom ; and where there are publick Markets for Grain, Flour or Meal of any Kind, there is no such Officer as Clerk of the Market., who can certify to the Magistrates or Justices of the Peace the respective Prices which the several Sorts of Grain, Meal and Flour sell for in such publick Markets ; whereby the Salutary Effect and Execution of the said Act made for the whole United Kingdom, is prevented and totally disappointed within that Part thereof called Scotland: For Remedy whereof, Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same,

That in Place of the Method prescribed and laid down in the said Act for ascertaining the Price of the several Kinds of Grain, Meal and Flour, it shall and may be lawful, in that Part of Great Britain called Scotland, for the Magistrates and Justices of the Peace who are by the said Act authorized to set the Assize of Bread, from time to time, and so often as they shall judge proper, within their respective Jurisdictions, to enquire into and take Proof of the Prices, which the several Sorts of Grain, Meal and Flour, fit and proper to make the several Sorts of Bread which shall be allowed to be made by them, shall bona fide fell for in the publick Markets in or near the City, Borough or Place, for which they are respectively authorized to set the Assize of Bread ; or where there are no publick Markets for any particular Species of Grain, Meal or Flour, in or near such City, Borough or Place, to inquire into and take Proof of the present or last selling Price of such Species of Grain, Meal or Flour, whether of the Growth of the Country or brought from distant Places; to which selling Price or prime Cost shall be added such an Allowance for the Expence and Risk of Carriage or Transportation, as from the Enquiry and Proof shall to the said Magistrates and Justices of the Peace appear just and reasonable; so as that the Price of such Grain, Meal or Flour be, from time to time, ascertained according to what those several Species do or may truly cost the Bakers before they can manufacture the same into Bread.

II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That previous to the Proof to be taken in the several Cases aforesaid, Notice in Writing shall be given to the Deacon of the Incorporation of Bakers, or where there is no such Incorporation, to any two reputable Bakers within the City, where such Proof is to be taken, forty-eight Hours at least before taking the same, such Proof is to the end that the Makers of Bread within such City, Borough or Place may, if they think proper, attend the taking such Proof, and suggest such Questions as may be proper to be put to the Witnesses summoned by the Magistrates or Justices of the Peace respectively, or offer such other