MAJORITY REPORT. 203 the directions in which additional powers are thought to be needed, we cannot do better than quote two questions addressed to Sir Walter Kinnear, and his replies :—'‘ Are you satisfied with the present powers of the Ministry for enforcing the provisions of the Act as to the payment of contributions, or do you think that they need strengthening in any respect? ''—‘ There are one or two comparatively minor points upon which we think it would be to the advantage of insured persons and to the adminis- tration of the Act if we had some further powers. The time limit for taking criminal proceedings we suggest should be twelve months in the case of ‘all offences specified under Sec- tion 96 of the Act. Section 97 allows a time limit of one year In the case of failure to pay contributions and in the case of trafficking in cards and used stamps, but proceedings for all other offences against the Act and Regulations are governed by the time limit of six months under the Summary Jurisdiction Acts, subject to the power of the Minister to extend the time by a certificate under Section 97 (1) (b). Many of these other offences are, however, closely linked up with the non-payment of contributions; for example, it often happens that prosecution for non-stamping is impracticable because the employer is believed to hold the relative card and prosecution for detention of the card is already barred by the six months’ limit. In fact, We do not know of the offence until the six months’ limit has expired. Other instances are the offences of fixing used stamps to a card, obstructing an inspector, failing to produce cards to an inspector, and making illegal deductions from wages. We are greatly hampered by the present time limit in the Act, and suggest that it should be made twelve months. There are one or two other smaller points. We suggest the period for which unpaid contributions can be recovered preferentially in bank- tuptcy or liquidation should be extended from four to twelve tonths. When the provision of four months was originally put Into the Act we had a quarterly card, but now that we have a half-yearly card we think the period of twelve months would enable us to recover from the assets of a bankrupt unpaid con- tributions, and so help to keep the insured persons in benefit. There is another small point. We have had some cases recently of small limited companies which we have not been able to prose- cute because of their being run by simply two or three directors, and we cannot prosecute for illegal deductions or for non-payment of contributions directors of companies. We think that, follow- ng the precedent of legislation set up in the Coal Mines Emer- gency Act, 1920, we should have power in the case of these small Companies to conduct a prosecution against the directors where they were actively running the concern themselves, unless they could show that they could not reasonably be expected to have any knowledge of the non-compliance in question.’ (Q. 23,442.) “You think there is precedent for dealing in that way with