“Any Old Iron?”
| Published date | 01 April 1940 |
| Date | 01 April 1940 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002201834000400214 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
"Any
old
Iron?"
THE
present urgent appeal for scrap metal and th
encouragement of the public towards economy in the
use of metals and the salvage of old metals, bring to mind
apart of criminal law which must be unknown to many.
Amongst provisions concerning ticket-of-leave men
getting their livelihood by dishonest means, the registration
and photographing of criminals, the suspicious actions of
persons already convicted twice, the penalties for harbouring
thieves in brothels and elsewhere and the penalties for assault-
ing the police, it is a little 'surprising to find stringent pro-
visions restrictive of a trade which has been raised to the
heights of a dignified profession by the
B.B.C.-the
old
junk
man or, in legal phraseology, " the dealer in old metals."
Of
course, " old
metals"
are only a part of Mr. Syd. Walker's
collection, and there is little or no direct statutory restriction
upon his trade in rags, bones, and bottles.
But"
old metals "
have indeed attracted
the
attention of Parliament.
It
is
the
Prevention of Crimes Act, 1871, which contains
that
assortment of provisions concerning ticket-of-leave men,
photographing, harbouring, assaulting, etc., and it is section 13
which contains
that
restriction upon
the
scrap metal merchant's
business.
It
reads as follows:
"Any
dealer in old metals
who either personally or by any servant or agent purchases,
receives, or bargains for any metal mentioned in the first
column of
the
schedule annexed hereto, whether new or old,
in any quantity at
anyone
time of less weight
than
the quantity
set opposite each such metal in
the
second column of the
schedule annexed hereto, shall be guilty of an offence against
this Act, and be liable to a penalty
not
exceeding five pounds,"
recoverable summarily.
245
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