The Sun. — London, England, 1853-04-22 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. :OUSE OP COMMONS-(YESTERDAY.) CITSTOMS' DEPARTMENT. WILSON,.in rising to present papers in relation to the rec ommendationa contained in the report of the Select Committee on the Regulations of the Customs Depart rrt, and t o s t a t e the views of t h e G overnme nt in relation e te, said, it wou ld b e remem b ere d by the house, and by m any out of the owe, that about three years ago a mos t unhappy controversy arose between the Customs' de n ?lent and two of the large London dock companies. e ,. ; : °ns equence of that con t ro versy a Parliamentary corn mid was moved for by the hon. member for Bridport , granted, and that committee sat for two years, to lnire into - the whole management of the Customs department, and - presented their repeat at the close of the la st session. In that report various alterations were sug, of in the C us t oms d e partment, and it was soon t e - ` vrw ards referred by the Government of that day ti o s tbe ,„ customs Commissioners, for their observa th„ll;- 'ereon. The commissioners Accordingly made o bservations and presented them to the Trea 'll'7 in October last, and on the present Government et a tli ,2'g into office in December they found matters in that 1, 0 7. A few weeks ago a most important and influential 4 of city gentlenien waited on his right hon. friend the aneellor of the Exchequer upon this subject, in which h e , wok a most lively interest, and on that occasion his friend promised to that . deputation that a bill pose • U be prepared in the present session, first, for . the pur ikv " C onsolidating all the existing acts of Parliament re i:mg to the Customs , -- and, secondlrfor the plarpose of • tilisk—`!eing all-the improvements the Government might fit to recommend to the house. His-right honour al: fri end also promised that - deputation that the bill the e fo r Printed and laid on the table as early as possible thi s " purpose of enabling every person interested in th most -mPortant question to consider well and leisurely N m e - "Provements and alterations the Government pro and for th e co untry at large to express their °pi l; 2_ l ' the subject before any actual legislation took place. r ef ; wet matter on which the committee reported had hurl'. to the constitution of the Board of Custom! ; U 4O , that particular subject, important as it might be in Intr' or i ( aid not form any part the . bill he was about to th e the Government not intending to deal with it on rsiilPresent occasion, , nor was it included in the Treasury coa l he Should lay . on the table that night.• Nevertheless, / 3 4 8 . assure" the house that the subject was under the pednleration of the Government ; and no long time, he ex hebT-t, Would be allowed to elapse without a second minute go es t Passed with the' view of settling that important Ine a j.° 4 . He could only state, on this head, that in the he an Th n ne the Government had desired that, should any tille c res occur in the' present board, they should not be ° °4l, ll P the whole qgestion was considered, and . a on v..1., - 1 1 ,° 0 come to thereon: (Hear, hear.) The next topic 1ttp,,,.."'0n the committee reported was one interesting to a rti_nurnber of arsons in this country, and regarded the ta„trnent and P promotion of Customs officers. He was liap o Lnat the committee had thought it right to take that forte',alit subject into consideration, because, whatever re depot' t he Government might iritr(Ouce, into the Customs blea t i tn ,T e nty their success would be dependent, in a great c arrv:+7 , on the disposition and efficacy of the officers to t 4 )o 4, 1 a1n into effect. Therefore, he could not express tg,n,_ ll glY - the feeling he entertained that the condition enti e , ) ," N oddy of men,ought_ to be made in every respect as Vood 4 g and advantageous as the circumstances of . the case ' 11 34 observationa which the committee 'loti e i ll this important topic referred chiefly to the exclu- NCL ee rtain Customs officers 'from promotion from one th an ariother. -In the Customs establishment no fewer Wer e i . '„ () ) 4 860 persons were- employed, and of these 1,000 44 th ''ue position of weighers and lockers, and 1,720 pe r t Position of tidewaiters; and-the committee very pro f:AZ animadverted . on• the fact of these 2,720 particular ti re rs being confined in their- promotion, and under no mlt m d Winces , whatever their merit might be, being per ;he te pass a certain line. (Hear.) No doubt it was of t ° e that the persons entering the different departments c rud Customs required a different description of ability „ s aa ruination upon entering ; but the Government were th y ,,".Pnlion that, notwithstanding the different qualifica wiii: required in the first instance, it was not inconsistent their duty to permit those who might enter qualified ,r t only for a lower position to rise according to their t a Z`Lt to the higher classes. Undoubtedly, in the.evidenc . e t o e 4 before the committee there was very much hen wito„ expressed as to the prudence of such a step, but consulting with the authorities . of the Customs, he i;:nght he was authorised to say that many of the officers,. ring made successive advancesinth e lower grades until th ey, became superintending lockers, had, from long ex perience, acquired so much information, and were in every respect so deserving, that they might fairly be promoted `e the higher appointments. In the minute therefore Which had been prepared by the Government, it was di 'noted that when any person had been for three years su perintending locker, he should be entitled to demand an til amintitiim from his superior officer, and that on passingsa tisf• actorily throUgh the examination, a certificate should be • ens to he forwarded to the Treasury, and that then his ;;Irn hould be enrolled as being at least eligible for pro h,-°tion to 'the higher ranks. (Hear, hear.) The Govern -64"A' were disposed 'to go still further, and to give to the n o,,,,, n issioners of Customs the right to nominate or to, re ofirend to the Treasury, in res pect' to one in every five lam!' appointments - made, the most meritorious officers as a len Ing waiters. In m a king these changes, the Govern in 44,_Nvere of - opini on th a t th ere was nothing, perhaps, gr ey ,aia country M o r e ' co n t r a r y t o th e feeling of the r nass of the people than that there should be tee:ntions of classes,. and lines' drawn beyond which 114; 1 w hatever th e i r merit, could not pass—(hear, hear, tessi';':_alid . when it was observed, in the great pro which adorned this country that men rose from the Part 'e the highest situation, it was though that a de oftlaent so large and of so important a character as that coi,g,a Customs ought not to be an exception in this parti the'ro , The GoVerunient also thought that, in remodelling lag 0.:1140,11S 'establish'ment, they would do much by hold tieb, anta a fair reward to merit to secure a b etter c l ass o f ker e i si ' l and a better feeling between them and the corn vice, wh c „,, a ' s i rs, and introduce a better tone into the ser a 411rab e r e P' tile Government would be enabled to effect re feruni to which he should hereafter refer, `ePieoes conc h the in their final success. The nea 44th3f • t he committee alluded was that of fines and of h t in - the then • ewadasminc-iotreteclutnsaaasfaztory presentthsetapteosi kere:,,A the Custorias' officers bore in r t rer n ence to oo t m he reitt e classes with respect to this matter.. The Of intimated , in the first instance, that inconseq e u s e im nce . Posed. I .. „ "lato rns ' officers getting the amount of the fines g° o 4 wrong entry,. and half the profits of the sale of /in ti e , se ized for undervaluation in the case of am a/m. o3m_ 4 , 11 impression prevailed among the mercantile aPeeadiat the officers were sometimes rather actuated by heviews with respect to their own interest than y siderations for the interest of the Crown. Howeverhttle he , u : i ght be disposed to concur in such an imputation, yet arra s w ining to admit that there was on the face of the ca,,:gernent congiderable ground for the suspicion. The of the offieers, who were in the receipt of from t he "Ca year; . should, however, shield them from lanai „fge of being actuated by a desire to share in these IN % ",oiuments, amounting on an average to only 21. a Vll 3 , . 41 - 16 ut the smallness of the sum was perhaps a reason . Niab . : Perquisite shoukt no longer be continued, espe kktitre.' as it created such an unfortunate impression. .The ttppi i ef the seizure and stoppages to which these fines . tad r might be divided into two classes. First, the nomi tote de of goods for inadequate description or non the Phance with the law through inadvertence. It was ta ei Ntice for these which were called minor or nominal tiosi?es, that the goods should be seized, but, on applica ,t 44,,,,.. re t0rnedi0 the owner on payment of- a small fine, if ak e - "" e fed that- the -offence was committed through ima ge tf ` - ' 3l nplaint was made that that fine was levied, but a s •1 4) /Ight it would - be wrong to relax-that system, so far it Z e nt, lest such relaxation might facilitate fraud. `qiith e r e, while the:Government could not recommend the PtlLW,` 4B jollers of 'Oillstoms to relinquish these fines altn 44es ft - b . ' Yet they recerhmended that not only greater facili lbs - 4 „ - ,° 111 (1 be afforded for amending the entries, where giatq ls rn r aPpeared merely the result of mistake, but sues - should be levied to a very small amount, Sties. (gear, officers should have no interest in these and et 1- u -ear, bear, hear. ) The second class of seizures I nsefe,PPagea had referencelo the detention of goods for *er e ie'ent .valuationgoods on which ad valorem duties .c ' t ara - ' 'llPcbse d, to goods' tken in smuggling,. and in . the tre a t iss ioll Of decided fraud.' ' The house would perceive a teeebidistitiction between these two claises, - for in the 11'11411 clam there might, in all the - cases be, and perhaps th ob ,LY there was frau& intended. The Government had Illect it necessary to emove as mush as possible, the and - Rs ' en dences which had r arisen from the frequent seizure iltiZPPages goods, in consequence of the ad valorem 1 ;3" the measure which the Chancellor of the Ex garif e r„nad already explained to the house but, as re i - Ikp os lithe remainder of these duties, which it was found akieldaibh) to transfer into any other list, the same rue the 8 ,„ ; a ,PP I Y as heretofore , With-one exception, that while asiz,„. -z ing officer should in "ai cases, as hitherto, bring the r • - les before the Commissioners of Customs, yet, what hay might be the result of the sale, he himself should l ithe l res in te profit which was derived froln_ filles. t .and h satisfactions, therefore, which had he r bee n oel d, paid to the officers connected - with seizures, of Int as Was at present the case under the Board glad an d Reven ue , 'be converted into one common the which fu n d would be disposed of at the end of eco, e ar, either by dividing it 'among all the officers in 'he r rn., °r by giving it as rewards to officers for special s.(Rcar.) The Board of Inland Revenue has al the „,,• 'Llgeontintled the practice, because it was found that . rieeiTol's were not considered by juries as credible . 8 such cases, or, at all eients, as not being sogo Cons' Wit e sses as they otherwise would' have • been„ they bear g temldered as interested parties. Now, although the same ott e r, ' did not apply' with respect to the Custom .- house rni g hi s, Yet he must say that the commercial e,ommuni . y de al !jet unfairly consider that the officers who . hi . td to i oi „ 'with them in re tof their goods had an individual knist which it were better they should not have ; and no .i.,` ,1 0 t the doing away of such an arrangement would tend ree rc t i o. °, 'Lice between the-officers of Customs and the corn community with whom they came into contact a tae ol. sPirit and a more confidential tone in the manage whlief busin ess. (Hear.) But there was one department aiter a t i ll the Government did not propose to make any ofdepitrt on on this particular point—and that was in the vi ce, Mint athe. Cost-guard . In the Coast-guard ser linheewithere the officers were often not only placed in ge r i,, Y situations, but exposed to great personal den smuggled goods, the Government agreed tv " • co mmittee in thinking that it Would be unwise n t he inducement w hi c h th e y at present had (R eal Ar risk and danger in the discharge of their duty. th e , 8 0 far ' then, as regarded the Coast-guard officers, ferett"ceeeie• want.ages which - they at present enjoyed in re lea%taiiwi e t i e di reCt seizures of vessels and goods, where the distinctly and clearly cases of smuggling, would th e , darned by there. But, with that exception, it was Infiete?./ention of the Government that the Custom-house le mi n i s heulcl hive no longer an direct interest whatever " " s and sale' 0 , 0 _satisfactions, or in any profits . derivedfrom anti ee. •g ,nude seized for undervaluation of ad valorem, r_ang era Z t ,__ ll ??4 that the officers, affected by this . new_ 5 4Prop osed w,_IM feel that the other arrangement which it to 1 " would b° make with respect to promotions in the affordood coro _ c , a more wholesome and better stimulus OM th e / than that which they at present derived Precarious and invidious profits of fines and satis ;'!io t i i, s.t -1- v ! , ne'xt head on which the committee had reported respe c t to ad valorem duties. After what the 4 .,°,n1a b e , u. '"°_/ Zb. Exchequer had said a few evenings ago, it "oJect i b e _.'uocessary for him (Mr. Wilson) to enlarge on this . canto the house mud have seen that it was the _ object of the Government, in the arrangement which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had proposed, to do away as much as possible with ad valorem duties; chiefly with the view of getting rid of the difficulties connected with the entries of goods and the valuation of the Customs duties. He believed the repoit of the committee would bear him out in the belief that those duties had been one of the most fruitful sources of dissension between the commercial public and the Custom-house authorities—(hear, hear) — and therefore, whatever might be the necessity for them in past times, when high duties were charged on all descrip tions of goods, it was considered by the Government that now, when the duties were, with few exceptions, reduced to small and moderate rates, they might be almost entirely abandoned. With respect, however, to the few that would be left, they would still be treated as they had hitherto been. It would be a question with the GoVernment whether the 10 per cent. which was at present paid by the Govern ment upon goods stopped for undervaluation, over and above the value the importer put upon them, should not be reduced to 5 per cent., in order to reduce the limits within which the persons desirous of sailing as near the wind as possible might think it safe to enter their goods ; but the number of cases would be so few, that little incon venience would arise whether this regulation was altered or not. The next point the committee reported upon was that of seizures and stoppages, and adjudications of them. With respect to this important subject, it was well known that it had led to great and very angry discussions but he was happy to say that the Board of Customs, before the committee had made their report, had already taken steps in pursuance of the recommendations that had been made to them by the committee, and removed two of the most serious evils which had been complained of. At pre sent, a Custom-house officer seizing !goods gave no notice either to the owner or his agent of the reason why he had made the seizure, so that the owner, being left in igno rance as to the cause of the seizure of his goods, was often placed in a most embarrassing position. (Hear, hear.) As early as August last, however, the Commissioners of Cus toms published the following notification of their own accord—a fact which he thought it only fair that the house should be made acquainted with. (Hear, hear) Notice. — The Commissioners of her Majesty's Customs hereby give notice that directions have been issued to the officers of the Customs in the united kingdom, that whenever they may seize or stop a vessel, boat, or 'goods, they are to furnish the owner, when he is known, or his agent, with a written notice, specifying the grounds of detention." Therefore, so far as that complaint was concerned, he hoped it had been entirely met by this notification. It had also been objected that the Board of Customs was a sort of secret tribunal, a kind of small Star Chamber—(hear, hear) —where cases were decided without the knowledge of the parties interested—(hear, hear)—and where no fair means were allowed to persons to protect their own property. He hoped that this complaint had also been entirely met by the circular which was issued by the board on the 23d of August last : " The Commissioners of her Majesty's Customs hereby give notice that they will be prepared, in any case of seizure in London, under the Curitoms laws, upon application being made to them in writing, and where the owner of the goods, etc., may be desirous of such a course, to appoint one of the members of the board to take the evidence, on oath, of the merchants or other parties claiming the property on the, one side, and of the detaining officers on the other, supported by that of any witnesses that may be necessary for the proper investigation of the case, and to report the same for the board's decision, agreeably to the practice observed in cases of com plaints by merchants and otheis against officers." He need not say that with these two regulations the Go vernment entirely concurred. (Hear.) It might be said that this latter regulation would be inapplicable to the out ports ; but the Government had also had that point under their consideration, and had provided by a treasury minute that a similar inquiry should be allowed to take place be fore the collector or controller at any outport. (Hear, hear.) He begged also to state, that considerably greater powers had been extended - to the landing surveyors with regard to amending entries than •they had hitherto possessed. Landing surveyors would now, have the power, in cases of small and unimportant amounts, to maintain entries, or to allow them to be amended, without a direct appeal to the Commissioners of Customs, which, in small and trivial cases had very unnecessarily created consider able delay. (Hear, hear.) -He might add that the Govern ment had desired that the Commissioners of Customs should carefully watch how far this experiment was found to answer its purpose, and, if they saw no reason to object to it, to take every opportunity of extending similar powers. The next case which the committee had reported was one of very great importance. He referred to the law of costs and penalties. Au impression prevailed that the Crown and the subject were not placed on an equality in prosecutions in Customs cases.- Now, the state of the law was this :—With respect to civil cases—that was, where the Commissioners of Customs brought an action for the recovery of bonds,- or where there was a difference of opi nion with respect to the law, the Crown stood exactly in the same position as the subject—that was to' say, the losing party paid the costs, whether that party was the Crown or the subject. Then, with respect to the arrears of day and the recovery of penalties.in cases of smuggling, which were partially of a criminal nature, the rule 'had been for each party to pay its own costs. The Customs in such cases never recovered costs from a defendant, and the defendant had no claim for costs against the Customs: But, with respect to a third class of cases, which probably constituted the great majority of cases—he meant cases of prosecutions against the Crown for goods seized—undoubt edly, as the law at present stood, the Crown was entitled to demand a bond from the defendant to the amount of 1001. for costs before going into court ; but in case the defendant was successful he had no claim for costs, whereas, if the Crown was successful, it had a claim for costs against the defendant, although in practice it was generally con fined to the bond of 1001. taken in tire first instance. On considering this important subject the Government had come to the conclusion that, on the whole, considering the altered tone of feeling of the times of 'which we live, as compared with the times when these laws were enacted, the time had come when the Crown Might safely place itself in the same position as the subject—(hear, hear) — that was to say, that if the Crown should be found to have been right it should have a claim for costs, but that if wrong the subject should have a claim against the Crown. (Hear, hear.) There were by one of the act; which contem plated prosecutions in cases of direct smuggling stringent powers put into the hands of Government ; and with re spect to those powers, he thought it would be unwise for the Government to give them up ; but, so far as regarded costs, the Crown and the subject should henceforth be placed on the same footing. There was, however, one very important feature of this matter to which he wished to call the attention of the house. It frequently happened in cases where vessels or goods were seized that there was only a nominal owner, or perhaps no owner at all, or some person was put forward who was incapable of bearing costs should an action be brought against him. It had been suggested that, in all such cases, the Crown should be en titled to insist that, before going into court, security for costs should be provided, in case the Crown should be successful. This appeared, at first sight, to be a very reasonable proposition, but, on carefully considering it in all its bearings, he (Mr. Wilson) had felt that, if adopted, it might perhaps preclude poor men, who were unable to fnrnish security for costs, from an opportunity of fairly defending themselves. Considering, besides, that the Crown was in possession of the goods seized, he thought, on the whole, that the Governthent might venture to allow the law to remain in this, as in other respects, as between subject and subject. (Hear.) But there was another im portant alteration which the Gevernment proposed with respect to prosecutions. It had been suggested by the committee whether a quicker and more economical tri bunal might not be allowed in cases which involved only small amounts. He thought they would show themselves not alive to the great advantages which were being derived from the establishment of County Courts if they passed over this suggestion of the com mittee without feeling that, instead of the lengthened in vestigations and loss of time which occurred' in Exchequer trials, besides the heavy costs, it would be better, in cer tain cases of small amount, to make it imperative upon the Crown to resort to the County Courts, or to some other local tribunal, as the Treasury should direct, according to the convenience of the locality. (Hear.) The Govern ment had therefore come to the conclusion that it should be made imperative upon the crown, in all eases where the duties or penalties to' be recovered did not exceed 1001., to resort to the County Courts, or 'such other local tri bunal as the Treasury might direct. They would, how ever, give the defendant the option of removing the case, to a higher court, if he thought proper, to be tried by a jury ; and they also propoied to give the Commissioners of Customs a similar power upon an appeal to the Trea sury, because it must be evident to the housethat even in cases of small amount; there might be large, complicated, and unusual principles involved--(hear, hear)—but as a rule they would be obliged to resort to the small court in all cases where the fines and penalties did not exceed 1001. (A Member, " Together ?") Yes, together. But they proposed to go even a step further, and say that, even in cases which involved a larger amount of duties and penal ties than 1001., where the Commissioners of Customs should certify to the Treasury that, from the simple nature of the cases, they might be safely left to the local tribu nals, the Treasury should be empowered to authorise the step so recommended. (Hear, hear.) At present also if a merchant found himself aggrieved by a seizure, and wished to bring an action, he was obliged • to proceed against the seizing officer only. Now - this was a serious case,; because the merchant might have been put to great inconvenience by the seizure of his goods, and if he found that it was only a Custom-house officer of an inferior rank against whom he must bring his action for damages, undoubtedly he might feel himself placed in an awkward and disadvan tageous position. (Hear, hear.) If the law was closely looked into, it would be found that the seizing officer was only nominally concerned in such transactions, and that the real party was the Cemmissioners of Customs ; but if there was any uncertainty as to the state of the law on this point—he believed there was none in reference to the practice—that uncertainty would be removed by the Trea sury minute now passed, which made it imperative that in every action under the 'Customs laws, the Commis sioners should be, if not nominally, yet really responsible. There was another comjlaint which bad been made with respect to the limit of time within which am action might be brought against a Custom-house officer or the Commis ssbiiint m e i rs tonn o ot f bt C au u fni s .fo to rme m cint s be . net t iy l h t e h ap e opfe l t a nb w eed now stood, the limit was caus ethat o t b f action e trial was arising,post-' poned, and that a delay of 12 months occurred. Parties were thus placed in a very awkward position from the un certainty of the result, and the long delay which took, p l ace , and were thereby apt to be deterred from bringing ac tions. To remedy this evil the Gov ernmen t proposed that in future the defendant should have the right to bring an action for damages within one month after the fin a l de termination of the court against the subjectp.atitiocpompnla” in wa s also made with regard to the law of ‘, re the case of the Crown bringing actions ; but for this there was something to be said. At present, in the case of " civil" actions, the Crown was bound to the limit of six years, as in every other case ; and, with regard to actions for offences against the Customs laws, tho right of the Crown to bring actions was limited to three years in cases brought in any of the superior courts, and to six months for those brought before magistrates. He did not think, therefore, there was any occasion to make any ' al teration ii; this respect (Hear, hear, hear.) The next recommendation of the committee referred to a most important subject—the transi system. The transit trade of this country had, for the last few years, exhibited fea tures of remarkable interest. It would be remembered that during the discussions upon the navigation laws, two or three years ago, one very great, and important advantage anticipated from the change of those laws was, that they would be able materially to extend the shipping trade of Great Britain wiih the United States and other countries of pr t e b v e io w usLy ld ae , sent Europea n t b b y ei i r nt g l o u o c d in a g direotly to n th at e ia v n a a ri w ou h s ie p h aa h- t a s d great inconvenience and expense to themselves, to use the shipping of this country for the conveyance of their goods. That anticipation had been realised in a most remarkable degree. In order to give facilities to this trade, arrange ments had been made at t h e p orts of London, Liverpool, Hull, Goole, Grimsby, and Southampton, -whereby goods coun- might be landed from ships arrivin or g from d examined might tries, and without being ' foreign be dispatched by vans and railway to other ports, where they were again to be re-shipped. Goods mignt, for instance, be sent across the country in this manner from Hull to Liverpool, and they were thus removed almost directly from one ship into another without being examined or disturbed. Now, several objections were raised to this arrangement, the most important of which were, perhaps, that some description of goods, the impor ation of which was altogether prohibited, such as copy right books, might in this way be introduced, and that the Customs laws might be contravened by goods bearing Bri tish marks being sent through this country and sold in foreign countries as British goods. There was, no doubt, considerable force in these objections • but, after fully considering them, the Government had thought, that they could not be sustained, because if people found it to be their interest to imitate British marks, they could send their goods direct to continental ports as easily as they could bring them through this country, and, there fore, if they insisted upon opening an examining goods, such goods as he had alluded to might be sent by other channels, over which this country could exercise no manner of control. It had, therefore, been resolved, with reference to goods in transitu, that theymight be landed and conveyed by railway, under the superintendence of a Custom-house officer, from one port to another, where they might be re-shipped and exported to other parts of the world, with out being opened or in the slightest degree disturbed. These arrangement's had only been in existence about two years, but they had been attended with remarkable success, and had exercised a most beneficial influence upon the trade of this country. The following was the quantity of foreign goods which had been entered for trans-shipment in this country in the year 1852 : Butter, 203 cwt. ; cheese, 5,026 cwt. ; corks, 15,040 1b..; grain (all kinds), 1,641 ow. ; ditto, 8,637 quarters ; glass (all kinds), 44,416 cwt. ; ditto, 131,598 lb. • spirits (all kinds), 400,852 gallons • sugar, 21,482 cwt:. ; wine (all kinds), 78,874 gallons ; tobacco, 1,474,160 lb. ; but, in addi tion, articles not requiring specification, comprising silk, leather, woollen and cotton manufactures, watches, per fumery, confectionary, and other manufactured goods to the value of 3,414,4511., had also passed through this country during the last year. In the very last month (March), the value of goods entered under the latter description was 420,0001., or at the rate of 5,000,0001. per annum. Now, the effect produced by this traffic on the shipping trade of Liverpool was very remarkable. He would take two periods; the one previous to the repeal of the navigation laws, and the other since these new facilities were afforded. In 1845 the total British shipping entered inwards and out wards amounted to 1,833,449 tons. The total British and foreign shipping entered inwards and outwards in that year was 2,819,014 tons. In 1848 the total entries of British shipping showed a slight decrease, for they amounted only to 1,817,000 tons, the total entries of British and foreign shipping being 2,924,000 tons. The increase in the total entries was, therefore, between 1845 and 1848, 105,000 tons. Now in 1852 the amount of British shipping entered inwards and outwards at Liverpool had been 2,185,000 tons, and the total entries of British and foreign shipping bad been 3,785,000 tons, so 'that the increase of British shipping between 1849 and 1852 had been 868,000 tons, and the total increase of shipping 861,000 tons. (Hear, hear.) He did not mean to say that this increase was to be entirely attributed to the transit trade, but when they took, it in connexion with the fact that goods of the value of about 5,000,0001. were annually in transitu through this country, he thought a very large portion of the increase might be attributed to the transit trade. (Hear, hear.) It was, therefore, the opinion of the Government that every pos sible facility, under which the revenue of the country might be defended from risk of fraud, should be afforded for the extension of the transit trade. He thought when they had exposed the shipping interest , to competition with all the world, that it was their first and bounden duty to afford that interest to all those facilities which might make them the carriers of the world. (Hear, hear.) They had this advantage—that, whereas many continental countries were so unwise as to impose transit duties, not onlydid the British Government impose no transit duty, but they went to considerable expense in order to afford all possible facilities for the transit of goods ; and the Treasury minute called upon the Commissioners of Customs to extend those facilities which had been partially given with regard to the towns he had mentioned to every town where railway communication existed and where transit was practicable. In the case of Grimsby, and all the ports on the eastern' coast, the arrangement made was that upon the arrival of a ship the cargo might be immediately removed to railway vans, and conveyed by railway, in charge of a Custom house officer, across the country to Liverpool, where it might be reshipped for the Brazils, the - United States, or any other part of the world without being disturbed. It was now necessary that each individuallproprietor of goods should give bond to the Custom-house for the amount of duties to which such goods would be liable ; but in order to increase the facilities of transit the Government had provided that one single bond should be received from those railway companies who were willing to give it; and the companies would be held responsible for the safe delivery of the goods in a bonded port or dock. The committee had suggested that a similar, facility should be afforded with regard to coasting vessels, but he was sorry to say that the Government felt it impossible to comply with that suggestion. There was a great deal of difference between sending goods coastwise in small vessels and sending them across the country by railway in charge of Custom-house officers. If they allowed goods to be re-shipped in coasting vessels unexamined, they would not know the contents of the packages, which might be tobacco or anything else, but entered, perhaps, as flax ; and such a system would, undoubtedly, open the door to very extensive smuggling. With regard to goods which had been examined, however, the Government did not intend to withdraw the privilege which now existed of removing them from one bonded warehouse to another, either by coasting vessels or by rail way. The Government proposed to introduce another im portant modification which was not recommended by the committee. At present, in the case of large transactions between London and Liverpool, when goods were removed in bond, tho merchants so removing them had again to give sep :rate bonds for every transaction, and until • very lately they had to give bonds for double the amount of duty. He thought it would very much facilitate these transactions if one single bond was given, to run from time to time (as we understood), and covering a certain amount of transactions. (Hear, hear.) He hoped the great success which had attended the facilities that had already been afforded with respect to the transit trade would lead the' house to support the Government in extending these facilities still further. The committee expressed their opi nion that there was no fiscal reason why the importation of arms of all kinds in transit should be prohibited. In that view the Government agreed, and therefore arms would in future be allowed to pass through this country in transit, but in each case the party importing would be required to obtain a Treasury order, as an intimation to the Custom-house officers of the extent and character of the transaction, that no improper use might be made of the per mission. The Treasury orders would be issued as a matter of course, and were only intended as a precaution to prevent the law from being contravened for political or other pur poses. The committee made some observations in the re port as to the size of packages, and suggested that with respect to goods to be exported there need be no restriction on this point. With regard to spirits, tobacco, and some other articles, which presented great facilities for smug gling, the law provided that they could not be imported in packages below a certain size. He thought the mere cir et:insne° of goods being imported with the object of being exported could make no difference as to the opportunity afforded for smuggling. Suppose a ship approaching these shores was boarded by Custom-house officers, who found that the cargo consisted of brandy in small casks of five gallons or ten gallons, the captain might say, " Oh, this brandy is for exportation, but the officers' would have no means of knowing whether it was intended for exportation or for home consumption. The present practice of the Custom-house, however, he thought entirely met the views of his hon. friend (Mr. Mitchell) because specified regula tions had been sanctioned by the Treasury, under certain securities, for the introduction of brandy and some other articles in very small packages for the purpose of being re exported. . If, therefore, persons wished to export brandy in casks of 15 gallons, or wine in cases of one or two dozen, for exportation to Mexico, Peru. or Chili, they were enabled to 'do so; but it was clear that if there was a gene ral regulation, whole cargoes of goods might be introduced in small packages, ostensibly for the purpose of exportation, but really for home consumption. The next point was with regard to fines on shipping, and on this subject the committee reported : " Your committee are of opinion that the criminal respon sibility of the crews of vessels for an act of smuggling on their part, ought iu most cases to be a sufficient security to the re venue; and that it is therefore not expedient to detain the ship or to fine its owner, expecting when the fraud has been committed by the captain or chief-mate, or when such exten sive preparations for fraud have hien detected as to argue great negligence on their parts." In that recommendation the Government entirely con curred, but he believed the practice at present coincided as nearly as possible with the recommendation. The act of Parliament provided that, if it should be made to appear to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Customs that smuggled articles were on board a vessel without the know ledge or privity of the owner or master, and without wilful neglect of reasonable care on their behalf, the commis sioners were authorised to deliver up the vessel to the owner or master. He had made special inquiry on this point, and, as far as he could ascertain, it was the rarest possible thing for vessels to be detained unless it was quite clear that the captains and owners were implicated in the fraud. If it should be found that the present law was not sufficient to carry out the spirit of the recommendation of the committee, he would' be quite ready to consider 'any suggestions which might be made for its improvement. The next point of the report was one of extreme import ance, relating to the bonding or warehousing system—an institution to which they were, perhaps, more beholden than to any other commercial regulation for the growth 'of the trade of this Country. It was now 100 years since that system was first proposed to the House of Commons by Sir Robert Walpole, who was compelled to abandon the scheme by the violence of mobs who attacked members on their way to the house, by the opposition of the City' of London, and by the general spirit of insubordination which was excited throughout the -country. In 1733 Sir Robert Walpole first recommended to the House of Commons to adopt a bonding system with regard to tobacco and wine only. The previous system was, that a merchant on im porting paid the duty, and on re-exporting received a draw back. That the system of drawbacks afforded great facilities for fraud there could be no doubt;'but whether the mer chants of that period were influenced by such considerations it was not for him to say. Certainly, however, when Sir R. Walpole proposed a bonding system, even to that limited extent, the members for the City of London, directed by the Common Council, presented petitions from all classes in the city expressing their strong objections to the measure. In consequence' of members being mobbed on their way to house, the house adopted resolutions declaring their deter mination not to be deterred from the performance of their duty, but, the 'bill' having been read a second time and passed through committee before it was reported, matters assumed so serious an aspect in the country that Sir It. Walpole called' a meeting of his friends, which was thus described in Cobbett's Parliamentary History : " On the evening before the report Sir Robert summoned a meeting of the principal members who had supported the bill. It was very largely attended. He reserved - his own opinion till the last; but perseverance was the unanimous yoke. It was urged that all taxes were obnoxious, and there would be an end to supplies if mobs were to control the Le gislature in the manner of raising them. When Sir Robert e had' heard them all, he assured them that he was conscious of Diving meant well ; that in the present inflamed temper of the ot b i o •es t o h l e ut m io i se e , act tlivh e eqa o si :I:i:ci:l thereo t would u carried bc a into en d e execution i t i h t i c e n liberty withouotf d. nu •stelthveeastroKt to enforce e e gn,ps raised .emd the i b sw y E4tnh t ot s h w ree o s i t r l i e d w :r u d l i e n i' gly the bill was dropped ; c it e w ta a x s es po at st t p h o e ne e d x to ense a ' n:l the period to which Parliament was likely to o d f ay blo b o e d y . o ' sit ; and it was not till 1803 that we had the advantage th of s ln t e a m d W e ith complaint;it h r egatd thet w o hi ch present appeared practice ,face o fo com mitteethis ssY it an extremely just one. The theory was, that you got credit for the duty till you wanted your them in the possession of the Crown as a 'f security or the flhof: THE SUN, LONDON, ,1 1 ,41p...AY .pygNiNp - , APRIL / 22,. 1853. duty. Now the original importer, who entered the goods in the first -instance, was the only person knoWn to the Crown as liable for the duty ; but goods were sold over and over again without being taken out of bond, and it was a very great hardship for the original proprietor, 10 or 20 years after he had sold the goods, and when they had passed through several' hinds, and he had no cognisance whether they were in existence, to be legally liable for the duty if it should be found that a large portion of them had been abstracted. The Government would therefore pro pose that when the importer should part with his goods they might be re-entered in the name of the purchaser, and weighed or gauged, and the original importer should be no longer liable for the duty except on any deficiency during the time the goods had been his, any such small amount of duty to be paid at once. (Hear.) Further, the Custom-house was to be obliged to take complete stock every five years. (Hear, hear.) It would not be an entire stock-taking of all goods in warehouse at one time, but it would be going on from day to day, and every day, be cause it would be taking stock of all the goods which on that day had been entered five years, so that the process would be going on gradually. (Hear, hear.) The great bulk of goods were cleared in less than five years. (Hear.) Upon such stock-taking, the duty upon any deficiency be yond what was allowed by law would be paid, and there would be a re-entry, from time to time, as if there was a fresh importation. This would provide against the hard ship of calling upon persons to pay the duty upon goods many years after they had parted with their interest in them, and also of persons inadvertently selling goods in the quantity of which there had been a material alteration, through accident, or leakage, or fraud. [Mr. Mitchell — Do you mean that there is to be a fresh entry on every transfer ?"] The seller would be at liberty, if he chose (it would not be compulsory) to re-enter the goods in the name of the buyer at the time of the sale, transferring the liability when he transferred the property. [Mr. Mitchell— " Accompanied by weighing ?"] As to weighing and meas uring that was done at present ; it was necessary for making out your invoice. [A Member—" Oh, no."] In the case of some goods you would take the entry, but with the more valuable goods you would take reweight or remeasurement. However, that was a matter for arrangement between the buyer and seller ; but if the seller failed to take advantage of that security to himself, he must not complain that he had to pay duty to which he was not liable, since he did not take the means to get rid of the liability. (Hear.) With regard to takinc , stock, that was a suggestion of the cbmmittee: . It had been thought that the merchants might find it caused a great deal of trouble. If they found it troublesome, the Customs had no particular reason for persevering in it ;. but they were willing, as far as they were concerned, to make trial of it. Further ; at pre sent there were three distinct classes of warehouses—ware houses of special security ; warehouses of ordinary security where the warehouseman gave bond and not the merchant; and warehouses of ordinary security, where the individual merchant gave bond and not •the warehouseman. The Go vernment thought these distinctionslunnecessary and absurd, and they had to propose that all wami..a,...es should be of one class. The multiplication of bonds-was an-evil, and it was therefore proposed that there should not be a bond from the merchant in each case ;"no merchant would have to give any bond at all, but in all cases (as at present in the second class of cases just mentioned) the warehouse keeper would give bond in a moderate amount, and he would be responsible to the Crown for the small deficien cies more than the leakage allowed, as he was responsible to his customer for safe custody of his goods. [Mr. Mitchell.—" Do you propose any alteration with regard to the removal 'of goods from one floor to another ?'] The practice at present coincided with the recommendation of the committee. They recommended delivery orders,'but a book that was kept answered all purposes. (Hear.) The next subject was that of passengers luggage. The com mittee recommended the examination of all the luggage on board. He (Mr. Wilson) had taken a great deal of pains upon' this •subject; and arrangements had `already been made which might be regarded as an earnest of the desire there was to give every facility and accommodation to pas sengers. (Hear.) With regard to Liverpool, passengers arriving from North America had their luggage examined on beard already ; but the case of vessels of that size, with a great deal of room on deck, and comparatively few pas sengers, was very different froM that of short steamers running up the 'Thames at every hour. The only place on the continent where he had found the luggage exaimined on board was Antwerp, and gentlemen who were in a hurry to get a glimpse •of the Rhine might think it a very great accommodation, and contrast it with what they might deem our clumsy method. • But there was a dark side as well as a bright one in these cases. He had more than once ar rived at Antwerp when it was wet, and found it most in convenient that the luggage was to be examined on deck in the pouring rain. After experience of both he was rather disposed to think the English plan the better of the two. The steamers on the Thames arrived at all hours, and some of the vessels were very small. Supp ose the onl y examina tion was to be on board—and you could not have both plans—the steam-boat proprietors would not go to the unlessea extent, r practice wpeanssteoobf be. dngo excep tionalnetxatomainooinngs- cases they would not provide r ooms. You must have the one plan or the other. But passe n g ers would not much like to be roused in the night, in the w inter, to have their luggage examined between Gravesend and London . At examining-rooms, the same time, it was hard that a man should be hindered from catching the first train, and perhaps detained over Sunday. The Government proposed to take a middle course, and to arrange that passengers having not more than two packages might have them examined between Gravesend and London if they pleased, and passengers hav ing more might have at least a carpet-beg examined, but if they contained any article liable to duty, they must go to the Custom-house ; and where there was a large quantity of luggage the present course would be pursued with re gard o a cy b n 1 don, e e a n n In d instructions ade n h i a g d ht be t e r n ai gi n v , o f n or fo e r x e a v mi ery na f t ao io i n lit i y n to it. , With r egar d t o D ov er, arrangement s h a d al that was possible. (Hear, hear.) The next subject was the hours of attendance. The committee thought 'the hours might be from 7 to 5 during the six summer months in the out-door department, subject to a break in the middle of the day, and for in-doors from 8 to 4, a clerk remaining till Bto clear out ships. A few years ago a gene ral regulation was made with regard to attendance at all the Custom-houses, but it was found that the circumstances and the business varied so much that one rule could not be applied to all ports'. In Hull, for example, tee men were at work in summer from six o'clock to six, with an interval for breakfast and dinner ; but then they lived close to their work, and the inconvenience of those intervals was very trifling. In Liverpool the officers lived at a greater distance, and a different arrangement was made, and so in London ; but special arrangements were made from time to time to suit the convenience of parti cular trades. The Commissioners of Customs had consulted the dock authorittes upon the subject, because the circum stances of the docks and Customs were very much the same to the extent of a large class of deck business ; and the London Dock Company stated, through their secretary, that in their judgment the present hours were adequate for the purposes of business. On aparticular emergency there was always an extension of the hours. If the attendance was lengthened, the men in Liverpool and London must either take a long interval in the middle of the day to go to their homes at a distance, or they must resort to taverns, which it was not desirable for officers to do. But direc- tions had been given that every possible facility should be afforded, and especially where merchants were willing to pay for the expense of attendance for extra time ; and ar rangements had been made, whereby vessels could be cleared "out to a much later hour than heretofore. The hours could not be extendedin the indiscriminate way that was recomme,o4 Withoiltain addition to the salaries of a large !limber of men • there were upwards of 10,000 per sons in the employment of the Customs. (Hear.) The next topic—the most important of this whole range of to pics—was the simplification of entries of free goods. It had been supposed that the repeal of Customs duties must cause a great saving in the transaction of Customs and Excise dnties. When the soap ,duties should be repealed there would be no more Occasion for the offioers connected withthat department than if the duties had never existed; so with all Excise duties, and it was almost acanon in fiscal regulations that when you touched an Excise duty you should remove it altogether. (Hear, hear.) But, in the case of Customs' duties you must remember thatfree goods might be made the medium of smuggling. The committee had recommended " that the ship's manifest and the report of her consignee be the sole entry required in the case of free goods, and' that a copy of them be sent to the landing waiter as his warrant" - But ft bale professing to contain one thing might be the medium of conveying another ; a barrel of potatoes might have tobacco in the middle of it. A ship's 'manifest, which was but a list of the cargo, told nothing, unless what 'it 'consisted of was stated ; there might be a mixed cargo; and a number of packages consigned to order, and . entered -" contents unknown ;" an d, if the thing was discovered, no person came for Ward to own them. To show the great danger that would be incurred by such a regulation, he should, with permission of the house, describe a fezcases in which smuggling had b een a ttempted on an extensive scale. A short time ago a l arge importation took place into London- of oir-seed cake—an article duty free. It was imported in open baskets from Belgium. A Custom house officer (a judge of oil-cake), happened to pick up a piece. Smelling it made him sneeze ver' much ; and, on examining it, he found that it consisted of compressed snuff in- the - centre, with two cakes of oil-cake on either side. The agent came forward and gave the-name of the owner who had employed him, and stated that another quantity of the same article had been passed at another wharf. What came - Of that ?56 cwt. of oil-cake and 52 cwt. of snuff, on which the duty:was 1,6664. There was a case at Leith, in which the bill of lading was made out in the name of Long—no Finch person being known—and in which the Custom house officer, having received informa tion found a large quantity 'of tobacco at the bottom of 5 casks of potatoes. It. was asked what reward would be given for information on the transaction ; and.for some re ward which was offered the person who had not succeeded in making a large sum by Smuggling gave information to the Custom-house officers ' w hich led them to discover an extensive syatem of f r a u d. The Government felt the neces sity of giving every facility for the admission of goods, but would not extend that facility so is to endanger the re venue and the interestsof the fair trader. Ostend butter had become a favourite article of import. The anxiety to get it to market was met by every facility. A number of cases of Ostend butter were landed from a steamer a few daysi ago: The rolls were not weighed, but counted ; and an officer with a piece of clean wire probed a roll, which he found to contain something hard. Each had in it a tin such as that he had in Jiis hand (the hon. member held up one of them) full of tobacco, the duty on which for each case . was 201. At Liverpool. 32 tierces or hogsheads of pro visiOns arrived in an - American ship. The dock company, finding the goods in their way, cleared them. When the tierces were examined one tumbled to pieces, and out came a large quantity of 'tobacco. The owner never appeared ,• if those tierces had' passed, he could have produced his bill of lading, and claimed the goods. 'At Glasgow, a short time ago,'l2o barrels of rosin were landed. The rosin, which was 'run into barrels in a liquid state, and congealed, was brought in a solid form to this country, where the barrels were examined by one in ten being cut in two ; 120 barrels were passed ; but from an intimation which was given to the .Custom-heuse officers they were led to follow the goods ; and they, found that, out of the 120 barrels, to bacco enough chute to yield duties amounting to 501/. A large steamer arrived in the river iu September last with what purported to be rapeseed oil, which was passing as free goods, when one piece of a cask came out, and be tween the oil and the outside it was found that there was a space all round stuffed with tobacco. The duty on the tobacco seized was no less than 1,5001. There was another case of smriggling to which he wished to advert. The City of Bolougne had arrived from Boulogne in the Thames some two months ago, au of ficer, g oing into the chief mate's room, found the ch ief-mate dressing, and said, Vhose oand t. boots h e are was "TihnetYO are mine,' repli e d the matethem found 40 watches in he ; p u tting on an article of dress bot The officer m o t n e looking for suspending itfrom the neck.) a bag, with a, string who might ht wear it, having When a person landed mg capable of holding a gr eat many watches. (lt seemed to be ld b d e appa rently good large che s t , there won ean e o necessary to advert, and t h e more so as it had it was at tracted a great deal- of notice, 'as it was a case in which a ma tter. There was a case of a very serious nature n to which P art of the public press had been imposed on, and also as ArliCt it was a case in - which persons who - stood as high as any in • credit and reputation had been imposed on and made un wittingly the means of bringing charges of a most serious kind and without the slightest foundation against some most deserving officers. It was a case with which members would be acquainted as one purporting to be a case of great injury to a Mr. Marchand. Early last year the Commis; sioners of Customs had intimation that a very large system of smuggling had been organised and was carried on. The chairman said, " On general information I cannot act. Give us such information as shall lead to the detection of the parties engaged in an act of smuggling." Two or three weeks after the same gentleman came with an intimation that Mr. Marchand was so engaged ; though his place of business was in Red Lion-street, yet they - pointed toa place behind Bedford-row, near Joekey-fields s as a place where a large quantity of smuggled property would be found. The officers knocked at the door of the place- pointed out, were admitted by a lady, and when told their errand, no woman charged with any crime could have better-expressed indigna tion. She denied all knowledge of Marchand. The officers searched the house in vain, and were about to leave, when, one of them happening by chance to knock his heel against the landing, observed that it sounded as if it were hollow. He took up the carpet, and. on a search found a quantity of papers and no les's than lt cases of Watches, to the value of 5,0001. A person came to the doorat- the time and the officer asked whether his name was Marchand?? He replied in the negative, but the officer afterwards recognised him, and he was known to the commissioners as Mr. Marchand. The lady would not produce the key of the boxes. The officers said " We will seal them up in your presence ; and to-mor row, if you or any one else will come, they will be opened in your presence or in the other's, and the contents will be carefully noted." A solicitor came for this person, whose name was Miss Payne ; and the goods were scheduled. An inquiry was commenced as to the propel ty of those goods. I A correspondence, seized with them, showed that a very large and extensively-organised system of smuggling existed and that the steamboats between this country and the con tinent were made vehicles for smuggling. Letters from Geneva, Boulogne and Paris spoke of " the man of Mon day," " the man of Tuesday," and' so on. Those goods, according to law, must be claimed within a certain period or forfeited to the Crown. No one appeared. Miss Payne was prosecuted and imprisoned ; she expressed contrition for having been engaged in this crime. The goods, were put up to public sale. The foreman of Marchand came and examined them ; Marchand did so himself ; but several months after, when the -case had been compromised for 2501., paid for Payne by this very man, he came with a pe tition praying to have his goods returned.. He stayed till he was out of danger, till the case had been compromised. The commissioners said they could not do anything. He petitioned the Treasury. The case was carefully examined by the hon. gentleman opposite. The facts became known, and he gave a very short reply to Marchand, that he had nothing to do but to adhere to the decision of the Commis sioners of Customs. There was always a list of persons who made application when a Government came into office. The sumo appeal was mado .6. the Treasury the same in quiry was made. He (Mr.-Wilson) took painis to incinire into all the circumstances ; and, on knowing the facts, he had very little hesitation ha returning the same answer as his hon. friend opposite. Marchand wrote to Mr. Travers, who he regretted to think should have been imposed upon, and than whom none had inherited a higher commercial name, or added a greater lustre to that name by the man ner in which he had conducted his business. Marchand said, " Give me my books and papers back, and I will prove 'everything." What were the facts ? The goods were seized on the 10th of February. On the 12th his bill book was returned ; every paper was returned in the early part of March, and the receipt of his solicitor taken. That was the foundation of all the imputations made against the Custom-house officers—whom he trusted that, by his statement of those circumstances, he had entirely excul pated.. 'Among the papers was a copy of a memorial which Marchand had presented to the Customs ; and one of the watches in the steamboat was traced as having been sold by Marchand, and sent back to Gene 4 va; to bo repaired —a circumstance distinctly connecting Marchand with the smuggling transaction. That case must show how care ful it was necessary to be in dealing with the question of free goods. One great advantage anticipated from reduc ing duties on raw materials was, that facilities . would, be given for trade; but the plan which the Government pro posed.was not one recommended by the committee: With respect to free goods introduced as-free goods, it was ar ranged that a separate room, as distinct from the long room, should be opened, so that on the arrival of a ship no time should be lost in making the entry. [Mr. Mitchell inquired what was to be done with free goods outwardsl With respect to the entry of free goods outwards, the com mittee proposed that the bill of lading should be sent with the information required. If there were no goods in regard to which you did not require bond or give drawback, you might allow vessels to sail with the entry suggested ; but seeing that every cargo contained one or both descriptions of goods, it was clear that the Custom-house officers must have cognisance of everything in regard to the discharge and the sailing and clearances of such ships. With respect to the codification of the present Acts of Parliament, hon. members were probably not aware, that prior to 1825 the number of acts relating to the Customs amounted to 1,500. Perhaps one of the most laborious and meritorious works that were ever performed by man was the reducing those 1,500 acts of Parliament into the compass of the small volume he then held in his hand. That work was performed by Mr. James Deacon Hume, and lie believed that the very book he then had before him was the one which Mr. Hus kisson produced to the house in the year 1825 as one of the greatest triumphs of human labour that he had ever heard. of. In alluding to that work, he might adduce it as fur nishing a remarkable example of the sound policy of the present regulations established at the Customs-office with regard to promotions.. The principle there recognised was that every public officer, in however humble a position, ought to have the prospect of, sooner or later, rising to the most prominent station, provided he deserveh 'it ; for Mr. Hume entered the service in a very humble capacity, and by merit was raised through the various grades until he was selected to be Secretary to the Board of Trade. In 1836, under Mr. Poulett Thomson, that work was still fur ther reduced ; and in 1845 the whole of those 1,500 acts were finally comprised' in six acts of Parliament only. In structions had now been given to reduce those six acts into one act—(hear, hear)—which would nevertheless include every rule necessary to conduct the business of the Cus toms. The present solicitor to the Customs had undertaken that work, and he had proceeded with it in a manner that would do him great credit. He had discarded all technical terms—(hear, hear)—using plain and simple language, which any person who comprehended the English language could not misunderstand. He (Mr. Wilson) hoped very shortly to lay on the table of the house a bill containing every law and regulation with regard to the Customs. (Hoar, hoar.) And in order that no complaint should be made as to any alterations that might from time to time be made, instructions had been given to the Custom-house Commissioners that every month all new regulations that might be made should be published ; and it was intended (so we understood) that every new regulation so made should, at the end of every year, be added to the act, so that a single act of Parliament should at all times contain the whole of the Customs' regulations. He now came to the subject of the outports, which was one of very great importance. When the present constitution of the Board of Customs was framed, and the present regulations were laid down, a very different state of things with regard to the outports existed to what was now the case. In 1817 the amount of shipping in the port of Liverpool was only 700,464 tons, whereas in the year 1850 it amounted to 3,786,000 tons. In 1817 the tonnage of shipping in the port of London was 1,226,885 tons ; in 1850 it was 3,289,000 tons, being 500,000 tons less than in the port of Liverpool. In 1817 the tonnage of shipping in the port of Hull was 268,706 tons; in 1850 it was 836,000 tons. In 1817, in the Clyde, the tonnage was 106,542 tons ; in 1850 it was 435,000 tons. In 1817, at Newcastle, the tonnage was 264,000 tons; in 1850 it was 1;165,000 tons. In 1817, at Southampton, the tonnage was 43,000 tons ; in 1850 it was 299,000 tons ; and at Bristol the tonnage in 1817 was 108,851 tons, and in 1850 it was 217,000 tons. The total exports in 1850 amounted to 71,300,000/. The value of exports from 'LiverpoOl - was 34,891,000/. ; from London, 14,137,0001. ' • from. Hull, 10,366,000/. ; from Glasgow and the Clyde, 4,150,000/. ; making together 63,544,000/. ; leaving the balance of 7,756,000/. exported froth. the various other ports of the kingdom. These facts showed that the time had come when there must be a change in the organ isation of the Custom-house establishinent. Circumstances had totally altered since the time when London was almost the only place of export, and seat of Custom-house autho rity. In the early part of his speech he stated that it was not the intention of the - Government at the present time to make any statement with regard to the reconstruction of the Board of Customs, but that the subject was under con .sideration. But this he might say, that Whatever recon struction might take place in regard to that board, he had stated enough to show that the town of Liverpool must be placed in such a position as that it should be able for its merchants to have decided day by day all important ques tions, that might arise under the Customs, whether by means of a board or by any other form which it might be considered necessary to establish. That was the decision to which the Government had arrived ; and, considering that Liverpool was rapidly increasing in importance, they felt they should not be justified in 'postponing such an arrangement even for a day. The Commissioners' of Cue toms' had therefore been authorised to extend the existing authority at Liverpool to adjudicate upon all cases not ex ceeding 1001. value, without requiring the parties to wait, as they were now obliged to do, till the Board of C us t oms in London could be appealed to. The inquiries were to be conducted in open court, and a report of all decisions was directed to be made weekly to the board in London, for the purpose, of preserving uniformity in practice. The County Court Of Liverpool would also be open to those who wished to go to it in all cases limited to the sum he had mentioned. The Government were now induced to extend this advantage to Liverpool because it could not be denied that that town was becoming the great commercial emporium of this country. He had now gone through the whole or the ,recommendations of the committee in regard to the Customs. There was one small matter upon which the committee made no report, but upon which the Government meant to make a change of considerable importance. He alluded to the Isle of Man. When that island was purchased from the Duke of Atholl the Customs duties there was much lower than in this country ; difficulties consequently arose on account) of facilities being afforded for smuggling. To obviate - those difficulties it was arranged that licenses should be granted to particular persons to import a limited number of arti cles subject to duty. But applications were constantly being made to have those quantities increased. After con sulting with the Lietitenant-Governor of the island, the Commissioners of Customs had come to the conclusion that it would be wise to entirely abolish the licensing sys tem, raise the rates of duty, and permit importation to any extent whatever. He could not conclude his observa tions without referring, very shortly, to the great blame whinh had been cast upon the Custom-liouse authorities in London. He would mention a remarkable fact .He would ask the house to consider the vast increase of labour which had been imposed upon the Custom-house officers in a feir years. In 1832 the• exports and imports' amounted to 4000,000/. Now the amount of business to bo clone byte h Custom-house officers might be measured by the amount of imports and exports. What, then, was the amount of imports and exports in 1852 ? Instead of 82,000,000/. it was 187,000,000/. The shipping in and out in 1832 was 5,600,000 tons ; in 1852 it was 16,000,000 tons Then, by what number of men was thii work per forated ? In 1832 there were 10,770 men employed ; in 1852, notwithstanding the increase of business, there were only 10,863 men employed. He would ask whether, in fairness, this great increase of labour ought not to be taken into'consideration. The cost of collection and manage ment in 1832 was 1,376,060/. ; the cost of collection in 1852, notwithstanding the shipping had increased from 5,600,030 tons to 16,000,000 tons, was only 1,268,0001., being less than in the year 1832, although three times the amount of duty had to be performed by the same number of men. These were facts which ought to be borne in mind when persons complained of the conduct of Custom-house officers. The object he had in making this statement, and oflaYing these papers before the house, was that the great est possible facility shinild be given to the house and the country to understand what were the intentions of the Government upon this subject. He should •take steps to foriard the papers in proper form to all the outports of the kingdom,-so that the -merchants might know what were %he proposed reghlations, and might have an upper tunicy of making - any representations to the Government which they might deem necessary. He did not feel, him self in the sliglicst degree bound to any proposal he had made. Every point he had stated he should consider to be subject to modification. The Government was desirous of extending, in every possible way, facilities to the most perfet freedom of trade which at the same time were con sistent with a due regard to the interests of the revenue and df the fair trader. But, while that was the object in framing these regulations, he for one thought—and he was sure the right hon. gentleman the Chancellor of the Ex cheqner would concur with him in the .sentiment—that it would be one of the highest crimes by trimming and sailing with the public mind in the hope of catching the popular breeze, they were to consent to make - an inroad and krea.ch upon a' revenue of 22,000,0001. a-year, over looking the amount of interests involved, or could for one moment entertain a wish to do or be guilty of doing any thing that jeopardise the revenue of the country, or place the fair trader in a disadvantageous position. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentleman concluded by moving _that a ' copy !of the Treasury minute of the 17th of August, 1852, concerning the regulations of the Customs, and of the reply' of the commissioner and also of the Treasury minute of the 14th ef. April, 1853, relating to the same subjeet, be laid on the table. MITCHELL said that the statement of the hon. gentleman, except in one very important respect, which he should notice by and by, appeared to him to be exceed ingly satisfactory. He had met the just claims of the mer cantile interest in a fair and liberal manner. With regard to the appointment and promotion of officers, he (Mr. Mitchell) did not know whether he rightly understood his hon. friend. Was he to understand that any officer, to whatever branch he might have been originally appointed, would have the door open to him, for good conduct, to rise in his: profession ? He though the statement as to fines and satisfaction was sufficiently clear, but when he found that the officers had received for their share in one year upwatds of 10,0001., and that Sir T. Fremantle admitted the system had a tendency to make the officers too strict, he was of opinion that, except in the case of the Coast guard! service, where life was risked, some material altera tion should be adopted. , The fund should be from profits on sales on account of the. Crown altogether. He was not at all satisfied with respect ,to the system of ad vcdorem dutiei ; and as to watches, a competent authority had stated before the committee that 10s. each on gold, and ss. on siller watches, without reference to their value, would be sufficient for all purposes. The cheaper tribunals ought, in his opinion, to be open in • all cases where the duty in-. volved was under 100/. and not, [as was proposed, where duty and penalty came to that amount. H' e differed from the Gbvernment altogether in the principle laid down with respect to the bonded warehouse system, and thought that it ought not to be compulsory to re-enter' goods in mere cases pf transfer. As to the hours of attendance, it should be recollected that practically half an hour was lost every day to the merchants and traders, and that 30 years ago the hours were from 6 o'clock till 6, while the eommittoe recommended from 7 o'clock to 5, and the Government adopted from 8 o'clock to 4. This was a great rostriction on business. He begged to suggest that there ought to be a great simplification of the system of entry with regard to free goods, which at present entailed a loss on the mercan tile interest or London, taking the average fees on each entry' t 7s. of about 25,0001. a-year, while for practical or statistical purposes it was perfectly useless. With re spect to the case of snuggling, he must say he quite agreed with the hon. gentleman as to Mr. Marchand's case ; but he did not think that Mr. Travers had done more than say that if Mr. Marchand's story was true he was a very ill used Man. Before he sat down he must observe, that the hon. gentleman had left out of his bill the first recommen dation of the committee, that the constitution of the Board of Customs should be changed. (Hear, hear.) As it now stood, the board did not possess the confidence of the pUblic. (Hear, hear.) The, right hon. gentleman the other night said he was sure the house would not object to extend the powers possessed by such, men as Sir. T. Fre mantle and Mr. Wood. He was one who very much ob jected' to do so. (Hear, hear.) He was sure • the house would not forget that it was under the, administration of Sir T: Fremantle that proceedings were instituted, unpre cedented in the history - of this country, against two great dock ciompanies, possessing a capital of 5,000,0001. sterling. (Hear; hear.) He believed he spoke the sense - of the com mercial world of London and of the empire when he said the present board did not possess their confidence, and that no Customs reform could be satisfactory till the constitu tion of the board was altered. , The instigator and adviser of these proceedings was the solicitor of the board, who had been an obscure attorney in the inland town of Tam worth, where he could not possibly have acquired any knowledge of commercial affairs. He was first appointed assistant-solicitor, but in three years, by the compulsory retirement of the chief solicitor, he was advanced to the office of that gentleman, and being, as he supposed, a vain, conceited man, set to work to distinguish himself, and induced the board to take those unconstitutional and illegal proceedings. (Hear, hear.) As long as that gen tleman was solicitor to the-Board of Customs not a mer cantile man was safe in his transactions, and after the tri bute paid by the hon. gentleman and by the right hon. gentleman the other night to the heads of this department he said so much by way of protest, and lest it should be supposed he acquiesced in that praise. No change that, took place could be for the worse, and he trusted Govern ment would listen to the recommendations which had been made to them, and that some gentleman who had been en gaged in mercantile life would be placed on the beard when reconstituted. ____________ Mr. TURNER would leave the details of the plan to the judgment of the various commercial associations of the empire, but could. not refrain from thanking the hon. gen tleman and the Government for the great boon they had conferred on Liverpool by giving it a local board, and thus saving the merchants the delay and annoyance of references to London. He also thanked them for giving jurisdiction to the County Court in cases up to 1001., but thought the penalty should not be included in that amount. The judge ' of the Liverpool County Court was a gentleman of great ability, and was able to give satisfaction in cases of far larger amount, if left to his decision. Mr. WILLIAMS recommended the Government to ap point a member of that house to the board. He thought the plan likely to do service, but nothing good could be done till the Board of Customs was changed. Mr. G. A. HAMILTON expressed his satisfaction at the measure introduced by the hon. gentleman opposite. (Hear, hear.) The subject had been under the considera tion of the late Government, and ho knew that many of the suggestions of the hon. gentleman, which had been en tertained by them, were calculated to facilitate business, and to produce the greatest benefit to the trading com munity. With reference to the complaints of Mr. Mar chand, he was at the Treasury at the time they were originally made, and, having given the subject full con sideration, he must say it had appeared to him to be about as atrocious a case of smuggling as had ever existed—(hear) —and he was surprised that it had imposed upon the respectable gentlemen who appeared to have taken it up. Upon the subject of the admission of free goods, great care had to be taken lest in facilitatin g the operations of trade the Board of Customs encouragesmuggling, to the detri ment of the revenue and the injury of the fair trader. (Hear.) With reference to the Commissioners of Customs, he was sure that everyone who had had to do with them, and especially with Sir Thomas Fremantle, must bear tes timony to the great intelligence and the great energy of that most estimable public officer, and the great zeal which he displayed on every occasion to facilitate the operations of trade as far as was consistent with a due regard to the public revenue. (Hear.)' Mr. WHALLEY complained that no drawbacks were allowed to yachtsmen for wines, spirits, and things of that sort, which they wished to take out of the country, the consequence of which was that they went abroad to buy those articles, and that to that extent the trade of this country was a loser. He should be glad to find that some portion of the zeal and ability which the hon. gentleman had devoted to the subject generally, would be paid to this small matter. With reference to the charges which had been brought against the dock companies, he thought that whatever there was to be regretted in that transaction, arose from the nature of the service, and was not owing to the gentlemen who administered the Customs department. Mr. JOHN M'GREGOR thought that when it was con sidered that 22,000,0001. of the revenue of this country was derived from articles of import, and that the collection of this large amount was intrusted to men who were very poorly paid for the services they performed, it was a mat ter of astonishment, considering the temptations which prevailed, that there was not more dishonesty and fraud. (Hear.) In France, Prussia, Holland, and the United States, simplicity was the chief characteristic of the fiscal regulations, and his own view with regard to the manage ment of the Customs department in this country was that we ought to adopt something like the system which existed there, and have one chief head or director, with a deputy under him, dividing the whole management of the Customs into different section;—one for foreign, another for home trade and navigation, a warehouse and dock department, and one for keeping the accounts. (Hear.) On the part of his constituents, and he might say of the commercial community generally; he expressed his thanks to the hon. gentleman for the proposals he had made this evening to facilitate the trade of the country. (Hear.) 'Cris CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it was in no respect necessary for him to enter upon a discussion of the numerous points of detail—very important though they were—which had been included in the very able statement of his hon. friend. There were some of those points with respect to which it would be much better for hon. members to have the, opportunity of reading the mi nute of the Treasury before any further expression of opinion' took place upon them ; but he wished to say one word with regard to a topic which had been revived in this discussion—revived, he must say, somewhat to his regret. (Hear.) He did not think any advantage was to bo gained by resuscitating the feelings that Were connected with the controversy between the Board of Customs and the Dock Companies. (Hear.) He thought they had fairly passed by that controversy, and that the recollection of those events was retained by none except for the purpose of learning a lesson of caution for the future. As it was he must regret that the hon. member for Bridport (Mr. Mitchell) should take this occasion to pass a censure upon the persons engaged in that proceeding. The hon. member had had an opportunity of bringing out all the proceedings before the committee ; and the matter was considered by the committee, who had declined to entertain or to express the views which the hon. member had thought proper now to lay before the hOuse. The hon. member seemed to think ; that what had been stated by his hon. frien d (Mr. Wilson that night, and what he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) imreien had said on a former occasion, conveyed the . 1).. ~ that the intention of the Government was to give t the Board Board of Customs a great extension of pow e ers. Now, Board of Uus the first place, he had never mentioned th and in the second toms at all on the occasion referred to, t e h n i d n a g t i on about t c' badr never Tho Fremantle. Ho was NilracTo,hotthasouFgrhemheandtilde,rehfeeriin terms o m f i c d om an m y giving extended powers to that he supervision of that t speaking of bringing i ns t e he i B , a e . c d co u u h u a t t s b a c, the sai (, bo ard N‘,lls under the of economy, amid that h e thought bringing the accounts believed the heads c o ,f i th'e board were possessed' of the spi ritbefore the house would perhaps strengthen their hand s i n ° en f o rcin, econom y. (Hear, hoar.) The hon. gentl eman the member for Bridport complained of the omission from the statement of his hon. friend of what related to the B_ (H ee d o eon f . Customs. He quite agreed with the hon. gentleman ,h in co n t s he . view he took of the importance of that subject. g st e i e t n u c ti e o te n t o h f e tandemignoivsterarntiinogn of f ut t h h o e ri e t n y was as of system vital hear.) But the hon. gentle man was very greatlY • mista e k a e r n , if he supposed that the subject had been overlooked. The fact that there had been two vacancies , in the bo ar d s i nce the accession to office o f the j ie ze 3 se e ntMinistry, a n d th a t nei tchleaerr o p f ro t o h f os t e ha v t aca th n e c y jew th h oUght thil filled up, was a pre tt y deration. B u t it was not is point wor th y of consi a subject to be decided as a mere departmental question, nor one to b e decided in a day. (Hear.) The h on . gentleman appeared to think that the ar. Mitchell) had very clear and decisiv e views upon 1' e fault of which he' complained now composed th e *b oar d . N Exchequer) was of a contrary o pi n i on . H e was no t of the opinion that by changing • lay w ith th e i nd i v i duals w h o ow he (the Ch ance ll or of the individuals they would have linY very treat hope of materially improvin g the system, _ . ' and he did not think the individuals composing the -board were very much to blame: These questrions,however—the question whether men of mercantile experience should be members of the board—whether any individual member of the board was to sit in Parliament, and how, if he did, his relations tb the chairman, while the chairman did not sit in Parliament, were to be maintained—together with the further and still more important question raised by the hon. member • for Glasgow (Mr. John M`Gregor), whether there was to be a board at all, or whether they ought to concentrate the responsibility in the hands of a chief and deputies—these were most important questions, which; in his judgment—and he took to himself the responsibility of not submitting' at once_ to Parliament a distinct plan on the subject—required mature consideration on the part of _the entire Government, and which he thought it would be better to postpone until the pressure of the heavy business now occupying the attention of the Governmentwas abated, and then they would be able to give the subject the most careful anddeliberate attention, with the view to the adop tion of that system which would best contribute to the se curity of the revenue and to the facility of the trade of the country. (Hear, hear.) He begged the hon. gentleman to believe that this question had not b. en neglected, and if it had been postponed it was only because, being fully aware -of its importance, the Government were desirous of giving to it all the consideration it deserved. (Hear, hear.) Mr. W. BROWN was glad to hear what the right hon. gentleman had said about the constitution of the Board of Customs, and should like to see one individual responsible for the good management of the entire department. (Hear, hear.). His constituents would be exceedingly . gratified by the plan his hon. friend had propounded to-night, though there might be some points of detail on which they would be able to suggest improvements which would make the whole plan still more desirable. Mr. J. A. SMITH thanked the hon. gentleman for the great boon which he had conferred upon the commerce of England by this revision of the Customs regulations, and said he knew enough of these details, of their difficulty and intricacy, to be able to estimate properly the zeal and the labour which the hon. gentleman must have beetowed in mastering them as he showed he had done that. evening. (Hear.) Some weeks ago he had been a member of a most remarkable deputation which waited on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to bring this subject under his notice, and the right 11011. gentleman had most nobly redeemed "the hopes he had held out to that deputation. (Haar.) With • reference to the constitution of the Board of Customs, and the _remarks which had been made on that subject b3# the hon. member for Bridport (Mr. Mitchell), he believed that gentleman had only expressed the opinion of a very large majority of the commercial community of London. (Hear.) They had felt most deeply upon this subject, and he did not believe the hon. member had uttered one word which would not be adopted by them. (Hear.) Mr. HENLEY said the hon. gentleman had introduced into his scheme the principle of a local tribunal for the decision of cases, and it would contribute very much to the satisfaction of all parties if these cases were heard before the commissioners who had to give the decision. He said this because he understood from the statement of the hon. gentleman that evidence was to be taken and the parties to be brought before one commissioner, who was then to report to the board,. and the board were to decide. It would be much more desirable, however, in his opinion, if those persons had to decide the case who heard witnesses afacndtiwonhothsaawt their ewia•ormineteanndoured.toHreeferhadmahne ofd t t o t se h satis faction to the County Courts, but he questioned very much the propriety of sending such cases before the magistrates. Mr. W. D. SEYMOUR regretted that any 13tori, member should have gone out of his way to pass a censure upon the gentleman who held the office of Solicitor of the Customs. He could bear testimony to the private respectability of that gentleman, and the great amount of ability and in formation which he possessed. He had been spoken of as hanadohbescard thatu recoutnhe obscurity tryatt of a man at any period of hisey, but it was the first time he life should be a bar to the possession of important offices. Mr. Hamel was chosen to the office he held by the late Sir R. Peel—whose solicitor he was—as the man best adapted for the service. (Hear.) When there was no charge of maladministration charged against him, he thought it was rather hard-that he should be made the object bf animad version by any hon. member in that house. Mr. Alderman THOMPSON generally approvett—Tilt measures which had been submitted to the house bithe hon. Secretary to the Treasury, and he congratulated the' house and the country most heartily on the changes that were about to take place. (Hear, hear.) He had looked with the greatest dissatisfaction for the last 30 years to the way in which our Customs laws had been administerid, (Hear, hear.) During that period they had been giving increased facilities to the trade of the country by the re moval of duties and other remedial measures, while the Board of Customs wore not merely adhering to the old system, but adopting measures more restrictive than any that existed during the war. (Hear, hear.) He could not approve of the mode in which cases of seizure were to be heard before the commissioners. The only way to stop smuggling was to hear every case in open court, and pronounce judg ment so as to bring dis grace on th e per sons engaged in it. (Hear, hoar.) It was his decided opinion that proper men had not been selected for the ad ministration of the Customs ; but he hoped that would be corrected, and was glad to hear that the sutject was , under the consideration of the Government. (Hear, hearl; He had heard a high eulogium passed upon Mr. Hamel. 4 1 He knew nothing of that gentleman, but what he heard when he appeared as a witness before the committee, and k he must say that while he concurred in what had peen said as to the talents of Mr. Hamel, he did not think he had discharged the functions' of his office in a way that con dated to the public interests. (Hear, hear.) If the hon. member who passed the eulo g ium would go to the minutes of the committee,`he would there find what was the opi nion of the committee regarding him. He would have re ceived the severest censure that a committee could pass on any individual, but was saved from that condemnation by the vote of a single member. (Hear, hear.) He believed that if the salary and, expenses of the solicitors had been paid_ out of the Exchequer, and returns regularly made as to what they were occasioned by, they would not have heard of such a thing as that official filing 120 ex-offleios in the manner he had done. (Hear ) Mr. GOULBURN said, his hon. friend had -never at tempted during the 30 gears of which he had spoken to correct the grievances of which he complained, although two bills on the subject of the Customs had passed while he was a member of the house. He would, therefore, put his 30 years' silence in opposition to his present statement. The persons charged with the administration of the Cus toms occupied the highest positions as to private character, and were wholly incapable of the charges preferred against them. (Hear.) He concurred in what had been said as to the ability with which the Secretary to the Treasury had developed the views of the Government. What he proposed to do would materially relieve trade, and, if carried out *ith proper care, would not, he be lieved, interfere with the duo collection of the revenue. (Hear, hear.) Mr. M. FORSTER was highly gratified with the state ment which had been made on the part of the Government. Reference had been made to Mr. Hamel, and he must say that that individual left a very bad impression on his mind, and he believed on the minds of all the committee. The hon. member for Sunderland (Mr. Seymour), however, seemed to have a brotherly feeling for one of his own pro fession. Mr. W.D.SEYMOUR wishedto explain that in what he had said he was only influenced by a sense of duty. .He might state the fact also that Mr. rfamel waa paid `by salary and not by fees. The papers were then ordered to be printed. PILOTAGE BILL. Mr. CARDWELL, having presented two petitions in favour of this measure from merchants, masters of vessels, and others of Liverpool, moved that the house go into committee on the bill. Mr. TURNER moved, by way of amendment, that the bill be referred to a select committee. The interests -at stake, both as regarded the persons immediately connected, in one way and another, with pilotage, and as regarded the lives and property of the public, were so vast, and the question itself was so complicated, that a select committee .could alone properly investigate the subject. The hon. gentleman had presented, indeed, petitions in favonr, of this bill from certain merchants, masters of vessels„and others of LiveTpool, but he was prepared to state that the very large majority of the merchants of that port, and of the masters and mates of vessels there, were decidedly opposed to the measure as it now stood, and assuredly the opinion of the port of joiverpool, so greatly exceeding in business as it did the port of London, was entitled, on such a matter, to the serious consideration of the house. The underwriters at that port, men well qualified to give their judgment on the subject, were also decidedly opposed to the bill, and, indeed, it might be sa id th a t a l mos t th e only persons connected with the trade of Liverpool who advocated the measure were the masters and mates of the • steam-vessels. He was ready to admit that the pilotage - charges to which these vessels had been subjected in the port of Liverpool were too heavy, but the Pilot Board there had agreed to reduce those charges. The Pilot Board of Liverpool was not composed of pilots, or of persons con• nected with the pilots, but of merchants, whose obvious interest it was to keep the pilots and their charges under proper control. Whether and in what way the. com position of the local pilot boards might be improved was a point which a select committee could efficiently consider.- The centralising of the authority under the Board of Con trol seemed a most extraordinary thing, without any good ground, and against the opinions of those who thought that instead of 39,000 vessels going out of port without a single loss, the probability would be they would have a tremendous loss of life and property. The only objection to the present system was, he 'believed, the charges, and that point he Was quite willing to leave to the decission of the Board of Trade. Ile hoped, therefore, the Govern ment would accede to the proposition he had made, or, if not, that the parties whom he represented would be heard before they proceeded further will the Sir E. BERING supported the amendment, for if ever there was a bill that required the strictest vestigation it was a bill of this nature, which affected the great maritime interests of this country as well as the vested interests of a most useful class of individuals —the pilots of the United Kin g . doin. He thought there was not much difficulty in show ing that advantag es were given by it to the Trinity Board pilots over those of the Cinque Ports. By this bill it WWI tocontinue to the former the sam e system th4t nPro°P°wpsreci vailed in the port . of London —that w as, to allow every s hipowner to pic k a nd choose his own pilots; iII o ther words. , to perpetuate a syste m fraught with bribery a nd jobbing beyond all measure ; while a s t o the Cinque P or ts the present system of r o t a ti on was preserved, Th next question was, that th e Ci nque Port pilots were bound e to cruise night and day, and for that purpose to subscribe a large sum to maintain a boatsinali efficient st a t e. F or that service they received curtain sum for every pilot put on board a vessel, and that fund, after providing for the expenses of their boats, was divided among t h em ; b ut to meet that 7i y u s ri t 7g he last found no p rov i s i on i n th i s bi ll. (Hear.) Now, the the t2O years, of the w h o l e num ber of ves se l s worked by the mis con d uc t of the u Ci up river, only one had been lost Cinque Port pilots. Ho hoped, therefore, the hoUse pause before it interfered with the rights t h ey h a d so long enjoyed, and which were tinned by act of Parliament. The was next question as to the pilot s ' f un d . Every pilot paid ss. each voyage to thu fund, and from it their widows received annuities of 12 guineas each. A payment of 11. was also made on the death of each pilot. Those payments were compulsory, and the existing pilots had paid nearly 10,0001. There was also a rate on ships that had not the British register, which formed a sort of superannuation fund for the pilots. All these funds were, without distinction, according to this bill, placed under control of the Trinit3 -house. He thought it unwise to give such powers to any body; and, although he made no charge against the Trinity Board, it was diffi cult to reconcile many of their present regulations with the principles of common justice, or he would almost say, of common sense. As an illustration of that, he would mention these facts :—lf he took a vessel from the port of Londori to Plymouth, he might navigate it with his own sailing-master and crew, without a pilot ; but if he went to the coast of France, then his sailing-master was declared incompetent, and he must take on board a pilot ; and that was not on account of the distinction between the n t coasting trade and foreigrade, but the destination, —for alt hou g h he wind to caws with ballast, he must have a pilot ; yet • • 1.