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

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. 11 017 SE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.) The r, T ~HANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. The Earl of STAIR took 'the oaths and his seat. EXTRADITION OF CRIMINALS. In answer to Lord SANDWICH. The Earl of CLARENDON said that the Govern ment had no t at present any fixed intention of b rin g in g for ward a measure for the s urrender of criminals in ac cordance with the convention which had been signed With the French Government. He acknowledged the 14?portance of the subject, but the practical difficulties Which surrounded.the attainment of the object in view rendered it impossible for him to give any pledge on the subject. The Earl of MALMESBURY thought that the diffi culties would b e greatly decreased if the Opposition o f the pres en t day abstained from offering those obstacle Which had been thrown in the way of the late Govern- I nent when they had brought forward a measure last Year. He took the present opportunity of protesting Z ainst th e m i srepr esentation and party opposition which measure had met with. The LORD CHANCELLOR r epudiated any party f b e i e n li tg . rn the remarks he had made on the noble Earl ' s hit year. After a few words from Lord Campbell, the Marquis of Clanricarde and Earl - Granville, The Duke of ARGYLE presented petititions against %e Canada Clergy Reserves Bill. The E ar l o f EGLINGTON also presented petitions from t he presbytery of Kyntire and other places to th e s ails effe c t. 'bhp The Bishop of OXFORD presented pe titions against admissi on of Jews into Parliament. KINGSTON-UPON-HULL. T he Earl of ABERDEEN moved that their Lordships t ft tree with the Commons in an address to her Maje s ty , ng that a commission be issued to inquire into the St ate ,. of the b orou gh of Kingston-upon - Hull. tb Atter a few words from Lord CAMPBELL and Lord ST. ' ol 'l - ARDs the address was agreed to. CLITHEROE ELECTION. ,p answer to a question from Lord LYN DHURST, T he Earl of ABERDEEN said that it was not his ntent' lon to move that their lordships agree with the ad uresg of the Commons in the Clitheroe case. Lord CAMPBELL gave notice, that if any n oble lord mvjed to agree with that address, he would move that tie agreed to that day s ix months. MALDON ELECTION. th a conference having been requested by the Commo ns, Lord P r i v y Seal and other noble lords were ap pointedtheir to manage it on behalf of their lordshi p s. On return the LORD PRIVY SEAL acquainted the house t hat th e C ommous h a d vo t e d an address to her Majesty, Praying for the appointment of a commission to inquire to the state of the borough of Maldon, and that they re quested their lordships' house to agree in the same. Lord BE A UMONT sugge sted that some courteous and respectful mode of communication bet ween the ho uses should. be settled, which would do away with the sol emn l , farce and mummery of these conferences. NORTH AMERICAN FISHERY QUES TION. ti .:Lne Earl of MALMESBURY rose, pursuant to no 4,'e, to ask a question of the Government relative to no the negotiations between this country and the - United States on the subject of our colonial fisheries. He was tieirsecally negotiations after the des th of Mr. Webster, and onsequently he begged to ask whether the noble earl, . f consistent with the public service, would inform the h ouse of what had taken place since the period he had entered office, how the negotiations now stood, and how far they were advanced ? If they were not likely to draw to a conclusion speedily, considering they were nom' ,at the commencement of the fishing season, he 1..v.n1d also ask, whether it was the intention of her oi a jesty• s Government to continue the protection to the colonial fi s h ermen , e specially as regarded the inshore fishing, in the same manner as ordered by the late Government ? The Earl of CLARENDON said he had to inform the noble earl, that her Majesty's Minister at Washing ton, in conformity with the instructions he had received from his noble friend (Lord John Russell), and in pur suance of the desire expressed by the President of the United States, had entered into negotiations at Wash ington for the purpose of making arrangements for placing on a better state the commercial relations be tween this country and the United States. Mr. Cramp ton had received the most cordial assurances from the President of the United States and from the Secretary of State, of agreement in the order which had been taken by her Majesty's Government ; and their belief that a convention might be concluded on satisfactory terms ; and, at their request, Mr. Crampton had pre- Pared the project of a convention, on which some diffi culties had arisen, and some objections had been made, but in the most friendly spirit. When the President, how ever, in his annual message, declared that, in his opinion, the two subcts of fishing and recipro cit y of trade had better bee bodied in two separate conventions, Mr. C rampton declared to him that he thought such a course Would be objected to by her Majesty' s Government ; a nd his project was sent home, and agreed to, with some u nimportant modifications by the noble lor d, who sent , 1 ! back t o M r . C ram pton, with an earnest desire that ` l le convention might be concluded, as a proof that the t WA governments were determined to carry on their re spective relations in a spirit of Justice and amity. It Was received by Mr. Everett in the same spirit, but !orne fresh objections and some difficulties that had not been foreseen arose, which required a further reference T .. 0 the B r iti s h G overnmen t, a nd then it became mani festly impo ss ibl e t o c arry the matter further with an y tope of a successful issue during the short time the late T r e ernment of the United States had to remain in office. tiee question might be considered as st ill under negotia tion, 'aud therefore he was sure the noble earl w ould be last to ask him to make an y more detailed state ent(Rear, hear.) L FUNDS IN CHAN CERY. o ord ST, LEON.ARDS rose to ask a question, f i' 'which he had given notice-- nam ely, What were the In tentions of Gover n ment with regard to the funds and property under the admi nistration of the Court of Chan cery ? Y The noble and learned lord observed that the bill which had been passed by their lordships would tend glea . tly to remedy the delay s which had been complained ` 3 in the Court of Chancery . But there was one thing t hat L made suitors contented with that court, even when it was in its worst state, and that was that property was 48 Safe in the Court of Chancery as it was possible it could be, for no one was permitte d to la y p rofane hands en that property. If any Government attempted to do 80 , the greatest alarm would be spread among those :1 110 were looking to these funds for their support life. He thought if the Government ventured • " 11 'AY hands on these funds, it would be a most dan gerous experiment, and would raise a flame in every ' ar t„ of the kingdom that would not easily to extin railed. He would ask, why was the suitor in Chancery to 4 e placed on a footing different to that of ordinary folders of stocks? In the case of property vested in • trustees for the benefit of a family, the right hon. gen tleman; the Chancellor of the Exche q uer, did not give t hem the option of accepting h is terms or not, the same a s h e gave to other stockholde rs. Ho also thought the vroposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer with re- . fer eece to the legacy duty would operate unfairl y u p on the class o f persons he was alluding to. H e had g iven this explanation of his reasons for asking an answer to the question he had placed on the paper. The Earl of ABERDEEN said in reply, that Govern ment had no such intention as the noble and learned lord seemed to imagine. Since the question had been placed upon the paper, he (the Earl of Aberdeen) had had an °PPortunity of seeing his right hon. friend the Chan cellor of th e Exchequer on the subject. He presumed that tin, noble and learned lord's speech was founded on the IT- T Port which had appeared of the speech of his right hon. f riend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was true that in that speech his rigid hon. friend had adverted to the large funds in the hands of the Accountant- General in Chancery, and observed also that such a state of things was not satisfactory, and he expressed a hope that some arrangements would be made on the subject. He did not, however, say that Government had come to any decision. He merely adverted to the subject in order that it should be considered. If his right hon. friend, however, should come to any decision in the matter, he (the Earl of Aberdeen) was sure it would deserve as much attention as any other thing the noble and learned lord had suggested. (Hear.) EARL OF RODEN. Viscount CLANCARTY moved for the production cf the correspondence between the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and the Earl of Roden, respecting the restora tion of the latter to the commission of the peace. The Earl of ABERDEEN said, he had no objection to the production of the papers. The correspondence would s p ea k for itself, and their lordships would the noble then see whether the inference coul d be drawn, whic viscount's mind seemed to be impressed with, for the dismissal of the noble earl (Earl Roden). The papers were then ordered, after which their lord ships adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS-(YESTERDAY The SPE A KER took the chair shortly before four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following petitions were read a third time and :—Midlandpassed Railway (Amen dment of Acts, &c.) Scottish Central Railway. The Lands Improvement Company (No. 2.) Bill was read a second time. PETITIONS. Mr. WILCOX presented a petition f rom Southamp ton, against th e Crystal Palace being opened on Sunday. A number of petitions to the same effect were pre sented by other HON. MEMBERS. Sir R. H. INGLIS presented a petition from Ar broath aga i ns t the abolition of the University Tests in Scotland ; also petitions from Essex against the admis sion of Jews into Parliament, and against the Canada Clergy Reserve Bill. _ Mr. PIIINN presente d a pet i t i on f ro m Somerset in favour of the Aggravated Assaults Bill. M r. T. DUNCOMBE presen t e d pe titions from Hull, Leeds, and other places, against the French occupation of Rome. Mr. (..OBDEN presented a petition from Rotherham, and other places in Yorkshire, praying for the total re peal of Church rates. ELECTION COMMITTEES. The members of the Berwick-on-Tweed and Maidstone election committees were called to the table and sworn. METROPOLITAN LETTER CARRIERS. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE asked the Secretary of the Tre asury, what steps the Postmaster-General had taken THE''SUN r , LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 22, 1853. ments. SOUTH SEA AND OTHER ANNUITIES' COl l ,l MUTATION BILL. This bill went through-committee-pro forma. PUBLIC BUSINESS. Mr. DISRAELI called upon the Government to state what their views were with respect to the progress of public business. It was understood that the house had agreed to the resolution relative to the funds as a mere matter of form, and he must therefore complain of the manner in which the bill founded upon those resolutions had been brought in and read a second time. It was at a late hour of the night that the bill was read a second time, and as the bill stood for committal to-night, he should be glad to know if it was intended to adhere to this order of things. He must also complain of the complicated nature of the resolutions which were to be brought on on next Monday. He had understood that the discussion next Monday was to be confined to the pro posed change in the customs and the legacy duties. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that was the understanding which had been come to, but with regard to the other matters; it certainly had been under stood that another discussion should be raised upon it, though the time was not fixed when that discussion should be raised. The bill had been_pushed forward out of consideration to the large interests involved in it : but, considering that the right hon. gentleman objected to going into committee to-night, he should have no objection to postpone the committee until to-morrow night, when a discussion might be raised upon the principle of the bill. It would, however, be neces sary to go into committee pro forma to-night, for the h be et o convenient on n i h ay t ed r n e ai yCeel named certain t n mo g ed print, pr one e should u whichld amendments be which required gouuilrd ed pro-ti ot purposevwi o d u e dt enter their names in a book at the Bank of England, and the new stock to be created should be distributed to them pr o 13S ll' a l t t aA Mr.EL I said h e h a d ga th ere d f rom the finan cial statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the income tax was to' be extended to incomes below 1501. a-year, but he found no resolution to the effect amongst those which had been issued by the Treasury. Th e CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER sa id the original resolution would embrace all incomes whatever, but when th at was p assed it would be for the house to make an exception in favour of incomes below 1001., a nd to fix the l imit of sd. in the pound on incomes be tween 100/. and 1501. a-year. Mr. WILLIAIVIS wished to know when it was in tended to take the miscellaneous estimates. Lora J. RUSSELL was not yet prepared to name the day. CUSTOMS' DEPARTMENT. Mr. WILSON, in rising to present papers in relation to the recommendations contained in the report of the Select Committee on the Regulations of the Customs Depart ment, and to state the views of the Government in relation thereto, said, it would be remembered by the hmse, and by many out of the about three year s a g o a h most unhappy controversy arose between the Customs' de partment and two of the large Loildon dock companits. In consequence of that controversy a Parliamentary corn_ mittce was moved for by the hon. member for Bridport, and granted, and that committee sat for of the Cus t oms two year, to i nq uire into the whole management department, and presented their report at the close of the last session. In that report various alterations were sug gested in the Customs department, and it was soon afterwards deferred by the -Government of that dal to the Customs Commissioners, for their observe i'eens thereon. The commissioners accordingly made their observations And presented them to the Trea sury in October last, and on the present Government coming into office in December they found matters in that state. A few weeks ago a most important and influential body of 'city gentlemen waited on his right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer upon this subject, in which they took a most lively interest, and on that occasion his right hon. friend promised to that deputation that a b5 l l should be prepared in the present session, first, for the pur pose of consolidating all the existing acts of Parliament re- 7 lating to the Customs, and, secon dl y for the purpose of i itroducing all the improtrements the Government might th;nk fit to recommend to the house. His right honour able friend also promised that 'deputation that the bill should be printed and laid on the table as early as possible for the purpose of enabling every person interested in this most important question to consider well and leisurely the improvements and alterations the Government pro posed, and for the country at large to express their opi nine on the subject before any actual legislation took place. In consequence of the pledge given to the deputation which waited on his right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Ex chequer a few weeks ago, he (Mr. Wilson) was about to state to the house and to the public the alterations and amendments which the G o vernment proposed to introduce into the Customs regulations, in pursuance of the com mittee which sat thereon. The report which the committee presented to that house was divided into 14 several heads, and he thought he might safely appeal to the house for a yetient hearing while he went through the great variety of topics, in order to explain the views of the Government on matters so intricate, and involving so much detail. He must, however, in the first place, say, with respect to the unhappy controversy between the Customs department and the docks to which he had already alluded, that that having been settled during the inquiry which took place before the committee, the committee thought it consistent with their duty not to express an opinion thereon. He thought that they followed a very wise course, and- in the same way he should, in the statement he had to make, carefully avoid any observations which could in any way tend to ree lye that controversy, which ho was happy to believe was now allayed. The first matter on which the committee repeated had reference to the constitution of the Board of Customs; but in that particular subject, important as it might be ie itself, did not form any part of the bill he was about to introduce, the Government not intending to deal with it on the present occasion, nor was it included in the Treasury minute he should lay on the table that night. Nevertheless, he could assure the house that the subject was under the consideration of the Government; and no long time, he ex pected, would be allowed to elapse without a second minute being passed with the view of settling that important question. Ho could only state, on this head, that iu the meantime the Government had desired that, should any vacancies occur in the present board, they should not be filled up until the whole question was considered, and a conclusion come to thereon. (Hear, hear.) The next topic on which the committee reported was ono interesting to a large number of persons in t his country, and regarded the appointment and promotion of Customs officers. He was glad that the committee had thought it i ight to take that important subject into consideration, because, whatever re forms the Government might introduce into the Customs department, their success would be dependent, in a great measure, on the disposition and efficacy of the officers to carry them into effect. Therefore, he could not express too strongly the feeling he entertained that the condition of that body of men ought to be made in every respect as enticing and advantageous as the circumstances of the case would permit. The observations which the committee made on this important topic referred chiefly to the exclu sion of certain Customs officers from promotion from one class to another. In the Customs establishment no fewer than 10,80 persons were employed, and of these 1,000 were in the position of weighers and lockers, and 1,720 in the position of tidewaiters; and the committee very pro perly animadverted. on the fact of these 2,720 particular officers being confined in their promotion, and under no circumstances, whatever their merit might be, being per mitted to pass a certain l ine: (Hear.) No doubt it was the case that the persons entering the different departments of the Customs required a different description of ability and examination upon entering ; but the Government were • of opinion that, notwithstanding the different qualifica tions required in the first instance, it was not inconsistent with their duty to permit those ho might enter qualified at first only for a lower position to rise according to their merit to the higher classes. Undoubtedly, in the evidence taken before the committee there was very much hesi tation expressed as to the prudence of such a step, but on consulting with the authorities of the Customs, he thought he was authorised to say that many of the officers, having made successive advances in the lower grades until they 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 to the higher appointments. In the minute therefore which had been prepared by the Government, it was di rected that when any person had been for three years su perintending locker, he should be entitled to demand an examination from his superior officer, and that on paesing sa tisfactorily through the examination, a certificate should be given, to be forwarded to the Treasury, and that then his name should be enrolled as being at least eligible for pro motion to the higher ranks. (Hear, hear.) The Govern ment were disposed to go still further, and to give to the Commissioners of Customs the right to nominate or to re co-:nmend to the Treasury, in respect to one in every five of the appointments made, the most meritorious officers as landing waiters. In making the,ee e changes the Govern ment. were of_ opinionethat there was nothing, perhaps, in this country more contrary to the feeling of the g reat mass of the people than that there sould be distinctions of classed, and lines drawn beyond which men, whatever their merit, could not pass—(hear hear, hear)—and when it was obeerved, in • the great pro fessions which adorned this country, that men rose from the lowest to the highest situation, it was though that a de partment so large and of so important a character as that of the Customs ought not to be an exception in this parti cuter. The Government also thought that, in remodelling the Customs establishment, they would do much by hold. ing out a fair reward to merit to secure a better class of servants, and a better feeling between them and the com mercial classes, and introduce a better tone into the ser vice, whereby the Government would be enabled to effect a number of reforms, to which he should hereafter refer, with greater confidence in their final success. The next topic to which the committee alluded was that of fines and satisfactions. He admitted that, in the present state of the law, nothing was more unsatisfactory than the posi tion which the Customs' officers bore in reference to the mercantile classes with respect to this matter. The com mittee intimated, in the first instance, that in consequence of the Customs' officers getting the amount of the fines im posed for wrong entry, and half the profits of the sale of goods seized for undervaluation in the case of ad valorem duties, an impression prevailed among the mercantile coin munity that the officers were sometimes rather actuated by speculative views with respect to their own interest than by considerations for the interest ofthe Crown. Howeverlittle lie might be disposed to concur in such an imputation, yet he was willing to admit that.there was on the face of the arrangement considerable ground for the suspicion. The character of the officers, who were in the receipt of from 2001. to 600 1 . a year, should, however, shield them froth' the charge of being actuated by a desire to share in these small emoluments, amounting on an average to only 2/. a year. But the smallness of the sum was perhaps a reason why the perquisite should no longer be continued, espe pecially as it created such an unfortunate impression. The nature of the .seizure and stoppages to which these fines applied might be divided into two classes. First, the nomi nal detention of goods for inadequate description or non compliance with the law through inadvertence. It was the practice for these, which were called minor or nominal offences, that the goods should be seized, but, on applica tion, returned to the owner on payment of a small fine, if it appeared that the offence was committed through mis take. Com Plaint was made that that fine was levied, but he thought it would be wrong to relax that system, so far as it went, lest such relaxation might facilitate fraud. Therefore, while the Government could not recommend the Commissioners of Customs to relinquish these fines alto gether, yet they recommended that not only greater facili ties should be afforded for amending the entries, where the error appeared merely the result of mistake, but that the fines should ba levied to a very small amount, , and that the officers should have no interest in these fines. (Hear, bear, hear.) The second class of seizures and stoppages had reference to the detention of goods for insufficient valuation of goods on which ad valorem duties were imposed, to goods taken in smuggling, and in the c ommission of decided fraud. Th e house would perceive a great distinction between these two classes, for in the second class there might in all the cases be, and perhaps usually there was, fraud intended. The Government had thought it necessary to remove, as much as possible, the inconveniences which had arisen from the frequent seizure and stoppages of goods, in consequence. of the ad valorem s y s tem, by the measure which the Chancellor of the Ex chequer had already e x p lained to the house ; but, as re garded the remainder of these duties, which it was found impossible to transfer into any other list, the. same rule would apply as heretofore, with one exception, that while the seizing officer should in all cases, as hitherto, bring the seizures before the Commissioners of Customs, yet, what ever might be the result of the sale, he himself should have no interest in the profit which was derived from it. All. the fines and satisfactions, therefore, which had. hitherto been paid to the officers connected with seizures, would, as was at present the case under the Board of Inland Revenue, be converted into one common fund, which fund would be disposed of at the and of the year, either by dividing it among all the officers in common, or by giving it as rewards to officers for special merit. (Hear.) The Board of Inland Revenue has al ready discontinued the practice, because it was found that the officers were not considered by juries as credible wit nesses in such cases, or, at all events, as not being so good witnesses as they otherwise would have been, they being considered as interested parties. Now, although the same reason did not apply with respect to the Custom-house officers, yet he must say that the commercial community might not unfairly consider that the officers who had to deal with them in respect of their goods had an individual interest which it were better they should not have ; and no deubt the doing away of such an arrangement would tend to introduce between the officers of Customs and the com mercial community with whom they came into contact a better spirit and a more confidential tone in the manage ment of business. (Hear.) But there was one department in which the Government did not propose to make any alteration on this particular point—and that was in the department of the Coast-guard. In the Coast-guard ser vice, where the officers were often not only placed in unhealthy situations, but exposed to great personal dan ger in seizing smuggled goods, the Government agreed with the committee in thinking that it would be ilnevise to weaken the inducement which they at present had to incur risk and danger in the discharge of their duty. (Hear.) So far, then, as regarded the Coast-guard officers, the whole advantages which they at present enjoyed in re ference to direct seizures of vessels and goods, where the cases were distinctly and clearly cases of smuggling, would thewe arrangement .payer proposed e wp o n o f gu s goods be still retained by them. But, with that exception, it was e the intention of the Government, that the Custom-house officers should have no longer any direct interest whatever in (oaidloi would a d loosffln omsareatiiftzeacee satisfactions, iwifhoiortarhet wutrhnheoir: respect neret wholesome otaaemlurutyneoalt profitsundervaluation o f a e r d i v valoreme d f rom duties. He hoped that the officers affected by this new which' a ra p u r n d o g m b e e m o t t t e i e o n r n t s si m n u it ta s to good conduct than th a t w hich they at present derived front the precarious and invidious profits of fines and satis factions. The nexthead on w hi c h th e committeehad reported was that with respect to ad valorem duties . After what the Chancellor of the Excheq uer h a d said a w fevenings ago, it w ould be unnecessary for him (Mr. subject, because the house must 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 report of the committee would bear him oat in the belief that those duties had been one of the most fruitful sources of dissension between the commercial public and the Custom-lumse 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 ang,ry 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 cr 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. (Fear, 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 kiag,dom' .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 Lad 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 Customs 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 others 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.) Ho 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 °ppm:amity of extending similar powers. The next case which the committee had reported was one of very grm t importance. He referred to the law of costs and penaties. Au impression prevailed that the Crown and the subject were not placed on an tea w in p r osecutions in Customs cases. Now, the sta of the l was this :—With respect to civil cases—that was, where the Commissioners of Customs brought an action for the recovery of bonds, or whore there was a dstiffeoo ren cexae o ctly i f opi nion with respect to t he law, the Crown d n the same position as the subject—that was to says the , the losing party paid the costs, whether that party . wa Crown or the subject . Then, w ith res ect to the arrears p of duty 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 coats 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 if the defendant, Crow•n w although thu h successful, to demand a bond from the def endant to the amount of it claim was for generally costs againstcon 1001. for costa before going into court,; but in case the a o g practiceit had a defendant was successful he had no claim for costs, whereas , fined to the bond of 103 l. t aken in the 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 poition 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 ware by one of the acts which contem plated prosecutions in cases of divet:•Smaggling stringent powers put into theahands 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 s.ane 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 ow-ier, or perhaps no owner at all, or seine p ers o n was put forward who was incapable of bearing costs should an action bo 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 b 3 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 furnish security. for costs, from an opportunity of fairly defending themselves. Considering, besides, that the Crown was in possession of the good.; seized, he thought, on.the whole, that the Government 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 Government 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 Cons 'es, 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 esees 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 proposed to give the Commissioners *of Customs a similar power upon an appeal to the Trea sury, because it must be evident to the house that even in cases of small amount, there might be large, comVicated, and unusual principles involved—(hear, hear)—out 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,. an d say that, oven in cases which involved a larger amount of duties and penal ties than 10.01., 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 tabu 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 seiz ure, 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 Custosmhottee 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 Commissioners of Customs ; but if there was any uncertainty as to the state of the law on this point—ho 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 complaint which had been made 'a ith respect to the limit of time within which an action might be brought against a Custom -house officer or the Commis shiners of Customs. As the law now stood, the limit was six months from the time of the cause of action arising, but it not unfrequontly happened that the trial was post poned, and that a delay olet m ad s ocean Patties were thus placed in a very awkw posiion from the un certainty of the result, and the lone delay which took piece, and were thereby a p t to be deterred from bringing actions. To remedy tins esil the Government proposed that in future the defendant should have the right to bring an action for damages Within one month after the final de termination of the court e,gainst the subject. A complaint was also made with regard to the law of " prescription" in the case of the Crown Winging actions ; but for this there was something to be said. At present., in the case of " civil" actions, the Crown area hound to the limit of six years, as in every othe r case ; and, with regard to actions for offences against the Customs laws, the right of the Crown to bring actions wag limited to three years in cases brought in any of the Superior courts, and to six months for those brought before magistrate-a He did not think, therefore, there was any occasion to make any al teration in this respect (Hear, hear, hear.) The next recommendation of the committee referred to a most important subject—the transl sae t sin. The traalsl trade of this country had,. for the last few years, exhibited fea tures of remarkable interest. It would. be remembered that during e ar d upon the navigation laws, two or three years ago, one very great and important advantage anticipated from the change of those laws was, that th y would be able materially to extend the shipping trade of Great Britain wiih the United States and other countries by inducing European nations . which had previously sent their goods directly to the various parts of the world, at mse to themselves, to use the gre , at inconvenience and expense shipping of this country he 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 the ports of London, Liverpool, hall, Goole, Grimsby, al Southimpfo 1, whereby goods night be landed from ships arriving from foreign calm -1 ' , lst tries, and without being opened or examinee., mio be dispatched by vans and railway to other ports, wherer they were again to be re-shipped. Goods might, 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 itnpor 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 bearin g 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 good s , such goods as ho 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 tran situ, that they might 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 arrangements 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 cCa ; cheese, 5,026 cwt. ; corks, 15, 010 lb. ; grain (all kinds), 1,641 cwt. ; 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 futhery, confectionary, and other manufactured goods the value of 3,414,4511., had also passed through this country dining 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 1,838,449 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 had been 3,785,000 tons, so that the increase of British shipping bet Ween 1849 and 1852 had been 868,000 tons, and the total increase of shipping 861,030 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 5,000,000/. 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 mightmake them the carriers of the world. (Hoar, 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 individuagproprietor of goods should give bond to the Custom-house for the amount of duties Co 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 i companies would be held responsible for the safe delivery of the goods in a bonded port or dock. The committee I had suggested that a similar facility should be afforded with regard to coasting vessels, but he was sorry to say i that the Government Pelt it impossible to comply with that 1 suggestion. There was a great deal of difference between 1 sending goods coastwise in small vessels and sending them 1 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, 1 undoubtedly, open the door to very extensive smuggling. 1 With regard to goods which had been examined, however, i the Government did not intend to withdraw the privilege 1 which now existed of removing them from one bonded 1 warehouse,to another, either by coasting vessels or by rail- r 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, the merchants so removing them had again to give separate 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 aftiorded with respect to the transit trade would lead the house to support the Government in extending these facilities still - further. The cananittee 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 bo made of the per mission. Tho 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 par poses. The committee made some observations in the re port as to the size of packages, and sug- , e.ited that with respect to goods to be exported there need be no restriction on this point. With regard to spirits, tobacco, and some 4 other articles, which , presented great facilities for smug gling, the lavaprovided that they could not be imported in packages below a certain size. Ho thought the mere cir cumstance of goods being lnsported 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 mot the views of his hon. friend (Mr. Mitchell) because speeifiod 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 in 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 been 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 i owner or master. He had made special inquiry on this point, and, as far us 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 mein - hers 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 the 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 tluough 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. lie reserved his own opinion till the last ; but perseverance was the unanimous voice. 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 had heard them all, he assured them that he was conscious of having meant well ; that iu the present inflamed temper of the people the act could not be carded into execution without an armed force ; that there would be an end of the liberty of England if supplies were to be raised by the sword. If, therefore, the resolution was to proceed with the bill, he would instantly request the King's permission to resign, for he would not be the Minister to enforce taxes at the expense of blood.' " Accordingly the bill was dropped ; it was postponed to a clay besond the period to which Parliament was likely to sit ; and it was not till 1803 that we had the advantage of this system. With regard to the present practice, the com mittee made a complaint, which appeared on the face of it an extremely just one. The theory was, that you got credit for the duty till yen wanted your goods, and you left them in the possession of the Crown as a security for the towards the removal of the complaints of the district letter-carriers of the metropolis, as well as of the various grievances contained in the petitions of the provincial letter carriers of the United Kingdom ? Mr. WILSON said he was glad to inform his hon. friend that the Postmaster-General had already sent a cirealar to the different portmasters throughout the country witildrawir -; the prohibition issued last year respecting Christmas-boxes. Wit's regard to the ques tion of superannuation allowance, a new and more just system had been prepared by the Postmaster-General, and he was now ready to send it to the Treasury for its approval. As to the unequal pay of letter-carriers, the Postmaster-General had come to the conclusion that equality of payment throughout the country was im possible, but he had received numerous applications for increase of pay in individual cases, and wherever he had found that the complaints were justly founded, he had given an increase of pay. BARNSTAPLE ELECTION. Mr. 0. STANLEY reported that this committee had determined that Sir W. Frazer and Mr. Bremridge were not duly elected for Barnstaple at last election. (The resolution of the committee has already appeared in The fair). On the motion of the honourable member, the evidence taken before the committee was ordered to be laid oa the table. He also gave notice that he would move the suspension of the writ for six weeks, and also for the appointing of a commission to inquire into the corrupt practices at the last and previous elec tions. He likewise gave notice that, when the evidence was in the hands of members, he would call the atten tion of the house to particular circumstances which took place at the last election, with a view to further measures being taken. COMMISSIONS IN THE MILITIA. Colonel LINDSAY asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the clerks of the peace in counties had any legal right, or had any authority from the Government, for char g ing the officers of militia with fees, either on appointment or promotion ; and if it was the intention of the Government to take any steps to prevent a continuance of this practice for the future ? Lord PALMERSTON said he was not aware of any law by which they were entitled to levy these fees, but the Government had no power to interfere in the matter it being one entirely under the control of the lord lieu tenants of counties. The Secretary at War and himself had, however, turned the question over, and they were endeavouring to get rid of these varying and, in some instances, exorbitant charges. In reply to Sir G. PECHELL, who wished to know whether, in addition to the ordinary force of militia in Sussex, there was about to be raised by the Govern ment a corps of artillery of 500 ? Lord PALMERSTON said no addition was intended to be made to the quota of militia already fixed for each county, but the Crown had power to train the militia in such a manner as might be ',thought necessary for the public service, and it would be very desirable to train them, in maritime counties, to the use of great guns. RYE ELECTION. Sir J. R.A_KINGTON reported to the house the re solution unanimously adopted by the committee on this election. It stated, that it appeared from the evidence taken before the committee that, from 1832 to 1852 in clusive Mr. Jeremiah Smith, of Spr in g field-house, near Rye, had exercised great influence at all the elections for the borough ; that his influence was created and ob tained by a system of lending money to voters, varying from 7001. to 21. or 31., according to the different situation and necessities of each, and that this system had prevailed to a very great extent ; that by docu ments presented to the committee it appeared that from 1832 to 1837 Mr. Smith had corruptly lent money to differentlparties to the amount of 8,2001., and he had himself stated that in 1837 loans of this nature were outstanding to the extent of 15, 0001., and he added that these advances were made by the instructions of Major Cartels, then the member for the borough. The resolution then went on to say that there were strong grounds for believing that that system of loans for political objects had been continued by Mr. Smith, though on a less extensive scale up to the last election in 1852, and that demands for payment or interest were generally made by him previous to an election. +lt had been admitted by the agent of Mr. Mackinnon that Mr. Mackinnon paid 2,0301. into the bank previous to the last election, and that nearly the whole was sp ent in the election, and ' that 1,2831. of it hadbeen expended in treating at twenty-four public-houses, of which a list had been furnished. The conmaittee were of Opinion that no direct act of bribery had been found against Mr.. Pomfret, and it appeared that his expenses during the contest only amounted to 1301. The report concluded by stating that the committee did not think it to recommend any further in quiry, because the [practices existing at the elections at Rye had been sufficiently establisbed before them ; but they desired to call the especial attention of the use to the system of corrupt , loans. They thought it most important that a remedy for this mode of corruption should, if possible, be included in future legislation as it was fatal to the freedom of elections, and more enduring and less costly than ordinary bribery. (Hear.) ACCELERATION Oil' MAILS TO THE NORTH. Mr. D. SEYMOUR asked the Secretary of the Trea sury, whether his attention had been called to the fact,: that, under recent postal alterations connected with the transmission of mails to the north of England, no ac celeration has taken place in the delivery of the day mails from the south at Sunderland, while the northern mail from Sunderland must now be despatched four hours earlier. Mr. WILSON gold his attention had been called to the fact, and arrangements were now being mad° for a. further acceleration of these particular mails. 'LEGACY DUTIES. Mr. STAPLETON asked the Chancellor of the Ex chequer whether it was his intention to make persons who succeed to property under the shifting clause of a settlement, by which one property shifts from them on their succeeding to another, pay the duty to be imposed on succession on the whole value of the property to which they succeed, 'or merely on so much thereof as may be in excess of the value of the property which shifts from them ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it was necessary, in order to keep within the rules of the house, to draw up his resolutions in a very general form ; but what his intentions were would be stated more explicitly and minutely in the bill which he should introduce. It would be inconvenient, however, at pre sent to state what those intentions were. LIGHT SOVEREIGNS. Mr. PELLATT asked the Secretary of the Treasury whether the Government intended to take any and what steps to protect the public from the circulation of light sovereigns and half-sovereigns, by which serious loss is now sustained in the deductions for light gold by the bankers ? - Mr. WILSON said the Government had no intention to take any steps on the subject. No party was how ever obliged to take light gold unless he pleased, and when it was once paid into the bank it was not re ssued. THE WHISKY TRADE. In reply to Mi. COWAN, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it would be his duty to ask the, house to adopt the resolu tion in the Budget on the subject 'of whisky to-night, but that would be as a mere matter of form, and parties out of doors would not be precluded from hereafter opposing the Government proposition. DOCKYARD APPOINTMENTS. Sir B. HALL gave notice that to-morrow evening he would nominate the committee on dockyard appoint- 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 hands, and ho 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 h a d b een en t e red' five years, so that the process would be going on gradually. (Hear, hear.) The great bulk of good s were c l eare d i n l ess th an fi ve y ears . (H ear .) 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 f sh resh importation. Thi s wou ld p rov id e aga i ns t th e hard u ship me fyrn, a calling a s e p r o o e f t n h persons r s ha o a n s inadvertentlyp a t payo rd N v i t t h h e d t sh u ee t l t y r n u gi upon or oe g ds o ts o n ins the quantity of which there had been a material alteration, through accident, or leakage, or fraud. ' [Mr. Mitchell— Do you mean that ther e i s 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 th e sa l e, transferring the liability when he transferred the p ro p er t y. [Mr. Mitchell — "Accompanied by weighing P"] As to wei g hi ng and a dmeas uring that was done at present ; it was necessary for making out your invoice. [A Member — " Oh, no.") I n th e 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 taking stock, that was a suggestion of the committee. 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 distinct ionslunnecessary and absurd, and they had to propose that all warehouses 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 ho 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 board 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 examined on board was Antwerp, and gontlemenwho were in a hurry to get a glimpse of the Rhino 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. Ho 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. Suppose the only examina tion was to be on board—and you could not have both plans—the steam-boat proprietors would not go to the ex pense of providing examining-rooms, unless the practice was to be carried out to a considerable extent, for excep tional cases they would not provide rooms. You must have the one plan or the other. But passengers would not much like to be roused in the night, in the winter, to have their luggage examined between Gravesend and London. At 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-bag 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 to it. With regard to Dover, arrangements had al ready been made for the night train, for examination in London, and instructions had been given for every facility that was possible. (Hear, here.) 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 thatthe circumstances and the business varied so much that one rule could not be applied to all ports. In Hull, for example, the men were at work in summer from six o'clock to six, - witte - au Interval Skit brcak-fwab alma digger, Lark- thou they lived close to their work, and the inconvenience of those intervals was very In Liverpool the officers lived at a greater distance, and 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 wore 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 recommended without an addition to the salaries of a large number 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 duties. When the soap duties should be repealed there would be no more occasion for the offioera connected with that department than the duties had never existed; so with all Excise duties, audit 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 b 3 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 a bale professing to contain one thin g 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 beamixed cargo, and a number of packages consigned to order, and entered " contents unknown ;" and, if the thing was discovered, no person came forward to own them. To show the great danger that would be incurre I by such regulation, lie should, withpermissionof the house, describe a few cases in which smuggling had been attempted on an extensive scale. A short time ago a large importation took place into London of oil-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 very 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 cw t. of oil-cake and 52 cwt. of snuff, on which the duty was 1,6661. There was a case at Leith, in which the bill of lading was made out in the name of Long—no such person being known—and in which the Custom house officer, having received iaforina tion found a large quantity of tobac co 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, which led them to discover an extensive system of fraud. The Government felt the neces sity of giving every facility for the admission of goods, but would notand theex t ;la t d o o . Ostend r t butterl 1 e venue had become a favourite article of import. The anxiety to interests nd that of facilityth ef fair a t r s gat it to market was suet by every facility. A number of cases of Ostend butter were landed from a steamer a , few days ago. The rolls were not weighed, but coulTtedhiciinlcila an officer with a piece of cleats wire probed a h r o‘ o d hon. member held tip such as that he had in his hand (the which for each found to contain something hard. Each roll, n w it a tin one of them) full of tobacco, the duty on case was 201. At Liverpool 32 tierces The dock company' visions arrived in an Ameriean ship. d them. When the finding the goods in their way, cleare and out came tumbled to pieces, , s of pro tierces were examined one a large quanti have produce( those tierces had passed, ho couridAt Glasgow, a sheet time lading, and claimed the goods. anded. The rosin, which *ty of tobacco. The owner never_ apipp).asre.lli if ago, 120 barrels of rosin wer.eilstate, and congealed, was was run into barrels in a lieuis34. ten being cut in two ; 120 barrels were examined by one in . se but from an intimation which was given to brought in a solid form . tth country, where the barrels officers they were led to follow the they d . that, out of the 120 barrels, to baccough came to yield duties amounting to 0 5 31. A e enough t w g h o e e o r ; t a r ' s s a t o 4 :heus o f o o ffi n ds large steamer arrived in the river in September last with what purported to be rapeseed oil, which was passing as free goods, whoa ono piece of a cask came out, be tweenaneaslelizeroduNtivdasstnuoffleedsswithtahntdooacct.o. There The wduatsyanonte the oil and the outside it was found that there was smuggling to 'which he wished to advert. Th o • el. a co to af sbseP ß :co o ce l f Ougue had arrived from Boulogne in the Thames e City some two months ego, an officer, going into " Whose boots are these?" " They ar c e r m e. i s n in e g ” , re a p n l d ied sa t i h d e , mate's room, found the chief -mate 1s • the chief mate ; and the officer on looking into them them found. 49 watches in the boot. The male was puttinc , on an article of dress capable of holding a great many watches. t (It seemed to be a bag, with a string for suspending it from the neck.) When a person landed who might wear it, having appa rently a good large chest, there would be an end of the matter. There was a case of a very serious nature to which it was necessary to advert. and the more so as it had at tracted a great deal of notice, as . it was a case in which a lad of the public press had been imposed on, and also as it was a case in which persons who stood as high , • ,• • 'fj N credit and reputation had been imposed on ant e l*; . tt w ittingly the means of bringing charges of a n ,:q e ?feeVAI -7.. -e-- 7 -1 - kind and without the slightest foundation . I. e e; ._447„._ e eaerf e e, 0 i moat deserving officers. It was a case with wh n.,. ~,....., ~.yw p : ::.-„, , , ,, ~ would be acquainted as one purporting to be ' - 0-'s b 7S:. ,:-7 , ,,,. FA-7i..; A injury to a Mr. Marchand. Early last year t. • e,...,..1 . 51 e .c: - .1? /11 sioners of Customs had intimation that a very 1 e ~.X,T.'"„ ji - -:: -- , 2 .% of smuggling had been organised and was carried-. • \ le,„ --7 -: , - -.- chairman said, " Ca general information I cannotlicefilete , , I c. (A rs i 7 us such information as shall lead to the detection of - the 7 -A 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 to a place behind Bedford-row, near Jockey-fields, 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 less than 11 cases of watches, to the value of 5,000/. A person came to the door at 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 property of those goods. 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 mo months after, when the case had been compromised for 2501., paid f or P ayne by thi s ve r y m an , he ca me with a pe titionpraying 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 same appeal was made to the Treasury ; the same in quiry was made. Ho (Mr. Wilson) took pains to inquire into all the circumstances ; and, on knowing the facts; he had very little hesitation in returning the same answer as his hon. friend opposite. Mar cuana rote to Mr. Travers e 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 a nd p a p ers back, an d 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 p a pers 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 Geneva to be 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 outwards?] 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 ono of the most laborious and meritorious works that were over 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 he believed that the very book he then had before him was the one which Mr. Hos kisson produced to the house in the year 1825 as ono 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. Tho 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 deserved 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 1,590 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. (Hear, hear.) And in order that no complaint should be made as to any alterations that might from time to time bo made, instructions had been given to the Custom-house added so n eall ot t f i o n thees verycontain act, gr e a s t o that Commissioners that every month all new regulations that might be made should be published ; and it was intended (so wo understood) that every new regulation so made should, a ei a n t gl t e h the act of of Parliament e v every year, whichyas rh,e should at the whole of the Customs' regulations. He no w came to the subject of the outports, 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 outporis existed to what was now the case. In 1817 the amount of shipping in the port of Liverpool was only 700,161 tons, whereas in the year 1850 it amounted to 01t of London wa 3,786,000 1817tons.In s2 1,t2h0,85 tonseBtonnage ; in 5 of shipping it nginthe pwas 3,280,000 tons, being 500,000 tons less than in the port of Liverpool. In 1317 the tonnage of shipping in the port of Hull was 208,703 tons ; iu 1850 it was 836,003 tons. In 1817, in the Clyde, the tonnage was 106,512 tons ; in 1850 it was 435,000 tons. In 1817, at Newcastle, the tonnage was 264,030 tons; in 1850 it was 1,165,000 tons. In 1817, at Southampton, the tonnage was 43,030 tons ; in 1850 it was 299,000 tons ; and at Bristol the tonnage in 1817 was 108,851 tons, and in 1350 it was 21 7,00) tos. The total exports in 1850 amounted to 71,300,0001. The value of exports from Liverpool was 34,891,000/. ; from London, 14,137,000/. ; from Hull, 10,366,000/. ; from Glasgow and the Clyde, 4,150,000/. ; making together 63,544,000/. ; leaving the balance of 7,756,0)31. exported from the various other ports of the k; ngdom. These facts showed that the time had come when there must be a change in the organ isation of the Custom-house establishment. 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 ii toation 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 consider ed necessary to establish. That was the decision to which the Government hal arrived ; and, considering that Liverpool was rapidly increasing in importance, they felt they should net be justified iri postponing such An • t a e rr m a e w h e a n a ie t i h it ei e e v f e e n re f b or ee m e d a a n y th o r T i shoed C t o e m e x m t i e s e s i d o new; existing authority at Liverpool to adjudicate upon all cases not ex ceeding 1001. value, without requiring the partie s to wait, as they were now bliged to do, till the Boar'! of Customs in London could bo appealed to. The inquiries . sion s was w ere to be conducted in open cour t, and a re p ort of all decisions dirocted to bo made weakly to the board in Londo n, for the purpose of p resoi rin g 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 wore now induced to extend this advantage to Liverpool because it could not be denied that that town was be_c_o o n i i ia rl the great coirniercial empeeimn of this country. i IS t' ns of the now gone tin ough the whole or the reco e re committee made no report, but matter unon which the t meant to make a change of upon which the Co - :el - ninon Ye alluded to the Isla of Man. committee in regard to the Customs. Tihmercenlvhaswone small considerable importance. .i. When that island was purchased from the Duke of Atholl rlent] aro s e eee • e;ffieulties consee y on accounts of corn ay 2 being afforded for smu gg l i ng. To obviate those the Customs duties there was much lower than in this fac:lities difficulties should be granted to particula • e persons to impos t a limited number of arti cles it was arranged tint licenses subject to duty. But applications wore constantly b e i n g nand° to have those quantities increased. After con sulting with the Lieutenant-Governor, of the island, the raise the I r .e a f t e e r s s :n o g. f , d v u e t r y y , Commissioners of Customs had come to the conclusion that it wovld be wise to enti - eely abolish the licensing sys nndPertnolitthiein importation t a a t t i b o l nto te,r . : any extent whatever. He could not conclude his observa tions which had been cast upon the shortly,' L melon. He would mon ., Custom-house authorities in asktan a remarkable fact .He would the house to consider the vast increase of labour which had been imposed upon the Custom-house officers in a few years. In 1832 the exports and imports amounted to 82,1:3,003/. Now the senor at of business to be done by the Custom-house officers might bo measured by the amount of imports and exports. What, then, was the amount of imports and exports in 1852 ? Instead of 82,030,000/. it was 187,003,c001. The shipping in and out in 1832 was 5,603,000 tons ; in 1852 it was 16,000,000 tons. Then, by what number of men was this work per formed ? 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 1'6,009,000 tons, was only 1,268,000 1 ., 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 cac's,s which ought to be borne in min i whoa persons complained of the conduct of Custom-house officers. The object ho had in making this statement, and of laying these papers before the house, was that the gi eat est possible facility should be given to the house and the country to understand what were the intentions of s the Government upon this subj ec form to alt. Ho should tak P t 1 the eut Porta of forward the papers iu proper 'L~ o pt tIO