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

MPERIA L PAHL IA.M ENT. ROUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.) The L ORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woo l sac k at re o clock. The Earl of STAIR took the oaths aria his seat. T EXTRADITION OF CRIMINALS. answer to Lord SANDWICH. The Earl of CLARENDON said that the Govern -I‘lelit had no t at present any fixed i ntent i on o f b r i ng i ng fo rward a measure for the surrender of criminals in ac cordance with the convention which had been signed With the F rench Government. He ac k now l e d ge d the IrePortance of the subject, but the practical difficulties Which surrounded.the attainment of the object in view r endered it impossible for him to give any pledge on the alfbj ec t . Ac Earl of MALMESBURY thought that the diffi !,ulties would be greatly decreased if the Opposition of "l i e Present day abstained from offering those obstacles Nv uiell had been thrown in the way of the late Govern /tient when they had brought forward a' measure last g ear ' Ile took the present opportunity of protesting lat the misrepresentation and party opposition which his measure had met with. hilf. ,e the LORD CHANCELLOR repudiated 'any party bill in remarks he had made on the noble Earl's Last year. After a few words from Lord Campbell, the Marquis Clanricarde, and Earl' Granville, T he Duke of ARGYLE p resen t e d petititions against the Canada Clergy Reserves Bill. eThe E ar l of EGLINGTON also presente d pe titi ons a r° 4l l3l o t e h fr e z. resbytery of Kyntire and other places to the th 'ill e Bishop of OXFORD presented petitions against e admission of Jews into Parliament. KINGSTON-UPON-HULL. T he Earl o f ABERDEEN move d th a t th e i r Lordships „ gee with th e C ommons i n an a dd ress t o h er M a j es ty, Ythg that a comm i ss i on b e i ssue d t o i n quire into the ate of the borough of Kingston-upon-Hull. After a few words from Lord CAMPBELL and Lord ST. ECIXARDS, the address was agreed to. CLITHEROE ELECTION. In answer answer to a question from Lord LYNDHURST, l a " Earl of ABERDEEN said that it was not his t h. —ration to move that their lordships agree with the ad z.. .the Commons in the Clitheroe case. e rd CAMPBELL gave notice, that any noble lord rt - to ag ree w ith th a t a ddress, he would move that bled greed to that day six months. MALDON ELECTION. th 4 conference having been requested by the Commons, e Lord p • d Privy Seal and other noble lords were ap the. e to manage it on behalf of their lordships. On th r return the LORD PRIVY SEAL acquainted the house al the Commons had voted an address to her Majesty, for the appointment of a commission to inquire '• the s t ate of the borough of Mal d on, an d t h at t h ey gue sted their l or d s hip s ' house to agree in the same. °lll BEAUMONT suggested that some courteous ll,uses sh mode of communication between the ould be settled, which would do away with the 1,,, e &n0 farce and mummery of these conferences. --1- "-; NORTH AMERICAN FISHERY QUES TION. ti The Earl of MALMESBURY rose, pursuant to no th:' to ask a question of the Government relative to i between this country and the United S tate s 0 - Per j e subject of our colonial fisheries. He was the se neAl unY Ignorant ofhat had din respect to 01l gotiations afte the death of occurred Mr. Webster , and „! e Cioently he begged to ask whether the noble earl, h o 'onsistent with the public service, would inform the use of what had taken place since the period he had d a erntered offi ce , h ow the negotiations now stood, and how n t they were a d vance d ? If they were not likely to 41 v to a conc l us i on spee dil y , cons id er i ng t h ey were , OR' ,at the com m e ncemen t o f th e fi s hi ng season , h e Wnild also as k, w h e th er it was th e i n t en ti on o f h er iesty's Government to continue the protection to the colonial fishermen, especially as regarded the inshore G overnm en t in th e same manner as or d ere d by th e l a t e urovernm en t ? The Earl of CLARENDON said he had at informadt rasid the noble that her Majesty's z Ministere he receive from l i iis co n n oble fried (Lord John Russell), had and in pm-- ,_ Bl la nee 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 aareement in the order which had been ta ken by her Majesty's Government ; and their belief that a convention might be concluded on satisfactory ter ms ; and, at their request, Mr. Crampton had pre- Pared the project of a convention, on which some diffi etlities had arisen, and some objections had been made, but 41 1 the most friendly spirit. When the President, how ever, in his annual message, declared that, in his opinion, ethe two subjects of fishing and reciprocity of trade had n ter be embodied in two separate conventions, Mr. vn a nl i Pton declared to him that he thought such a course as d be objected to by her Majesty's Government ; uIl 'us project was sent home, and agreed to, with some it b nl P o rtant modifications by the noble lord, who sent ‘, ak k to Mr. C ramp t on, w ith an earnes t d es i re th a t twon°ovention might be concluded, as a proof that the g,_ gover nments were determined to carry on their re iirctive relations in a spirit of justice and amity. It ,: 1:11 received by M r. E vere tt i n th e sam e spirit, but be e e fresh objectio ns an d s ome difficulties that bad not to t t i l ie '. l %reseen arose, which required a further reference featly Government, and then it became mam ;nlPossible to carry the matter furi;her with any Go a successful issue during the short time the late T he e -men t of the United States had to remain in office. t tion,questio4 toqht be considered as still under neg l o ihae the therefore he was sure the noble earl . w_ou t d at Ment ast m . t ° ask hi m to make any more detailed s e ( " - ear, hear.). FUNDS IN CHANCERY. LEONARDS rose to ask a question, of IV- eu h e h ad - en notice—namely, What were the elltin ns of giv Government with regard to the funds and 111.°15ert Y„„n der the administration of the Court of Chan eb:giv?, oble pas learned lord observed that the gr-fe?,tl;iZt. had been psed by their lordships would tend r , rem e dy the delays which had been complained th at the Court of Chancery. But there was one thing it 1 - 2,!de suitors contented with that court, even when as 8 7 ;; m its worst state, and that was that property was coal in the Court of Chancery as it was possible it on u s' be, for no one was p erm itted to lay profane hands so, f a b at Property. If any Government attempted to do vli o "" e greatest alarm would be spread among those thiri, e re looking to these funds for their support t o labvi life. He thought if the Government ventured ge i y i nlids on these funds, it would be a most dan- Pa r r ° t -n „experiment, and would raise a flame in every . gn• OI the kingdom that would not easily be extin- S 43 ; (l .Ffe would ask, why was the suitor in Chancery to heir ac ed on a f o oting different to that of ordinary trti„,ere of st oc k s ? I n th e c ase of property vested in ti e 7es for th e b ene fit o f a f a mily, the right hon. gen %Zan, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, did not give as he th e option of accepting his terms or not, the same pro o ,,ga,ve to other stockholders. He also thought the 're . ,, - " a t of the Chancellor of the Exchequer with re the 'to to the legacy duty would operate unfairly upon tifs e ;.: BB , of persons he was alluding to. He had given the eras of his reasons for asking an answer to 11 : l ineatio n he had placed on the paper. k eilt e L ßarl of ABERDEEN said in reply, that Govern- Ele " a d no such intention as the noble and learned lord up on to imagine. Since the question had been placed ni)n n. "'i n Paper, he (the Earl of Aberdeen) had had an of th e in itY of seeing his right hon. friend the Chancellor noble Exchequer on the subject. He presumed that the Port andi learned lord's speech was founded on the IT- N, , w "ich had appeared of the speech of his right hon. th at the Ch an cellor of the Exchequer. It was true th e that speech his rigid hon. friend had adverted to G en ,: a rge funds in the hands of the Accountant st t Z r al in Chancery, and observed also that such a h o 4 "' of things was not satisfactory, and he expressed a kit.e t ct hat some arrangements would be made on the h ail He did not, however, say that Government swle to any decision. He merely adverted to the r i,: i ieet i n order that it should be considered. If his it Lon, friend, however, should come to any decision w o "" matter, he (the Earl of Aberdeen) was sure it 4 , 1 , 4 deserve as much attention as any other thing the "uie and learned lord had suggested. (Hear.) --- - EARL OF RODEN. ti le iscount CLANCARTY moved for the production cf I N c orrespondence between the Lord-Lieutenant of ti c , and and the Earl of Roden, respect in g the restora -,;,1,0f th e l atter to the comm i ss i on of the peace. e Earl of ABERDEEN said, he had no objection to Z Nv o e Producti on o f th e papers. The correspondence Nvi l e,, Teak for itself, and their lordships would t hen see vi e ""er the i n f erence cou ld b e d ra wn, which the noble cli a -en nt's mind seemed to be impressed with, for the basal of the noble earl (Earl Roden). ship s TaPers were then ordered, after which their lord ad °Unled. 11013 SE OF COMMONS—(YESTERDAY.) wetiIeek.SPEAKER took the chair shortly before four The followin PRIAATE BUSINESS. Passed • g petitions were read a third time and Sottish ." --- Midland Railway (Amendment of Acts, &c.) ; Central Railway. te .,e Lands Improvement Company (No. 2.) Bill was read second time. PETITIONS. t(;n/sir nu WI PETITIONS. presented a p e titi on f r om Southamp against the Crystal Palace being opened on Sunday. teihe ct , be rof p et i t i ons to the same effect were pre by other [ION. MEMBERS. Si r b r „ R. T. INGLIS presented a petition from A.rn ge-ax against the abolition of the University Tests . 1 e41):• -° " 411,1 ; also petitions from Essex against the admis -11, °f Jews into Parliament, and against the Canada ,gy Reserve Bill. 10. -41 r. PITINN presented a petition from Somerset in Mrl. of the Aggravated Assaults Bill. Ba as, T. DU NCOMBE pres en t e d pet i t i ons from H u ll , of Itom,aeri. d other places, against the French occupation eil la aria ' L \A DEN pres en t e d a petition from Rotherham, Pealn er pces in o f Chu rc h rates. Yorkshire, p ray i ng for the total re- ELECTION COMMITTEES. mealaatlrnbers o f t h e Berwick-on -Tweed and Maidstone "11 committees were called to the table and sworn. -„„.10T-ROPOLITAN LETTER CARRIERS. tu.. Trea,„ DUNCOMBE asked the Secretary of the ..r ." what steps the Postmaster -General had taken 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 circular to the different postmasters throughout the country withdrawir 3 . the prohibition issued last year respecting Christmas-boxes. WWI regard to the ques tion of superannuation allowance, a new and more just system hail 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 Sun). On the motion of the honourable member, the evidence taken before the committee was ordered to be laid on 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 charging 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. PAKINGTON 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 Springfield-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 different:parties 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 Curteis, 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 orinterest 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 spent in the election, and that 1,233/. of it had,been expended in treating at twenty-four public-houses, of which a list bad been furnished. The committee 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 necessary to recommend any further in quiry, because the ;practices existing at the elections at Rye had been sufficiently established before them ; but they desired to call the especial attention of the house 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 OF 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 said his attention had been called to the fact, and arrangements were now being made 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 tie 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 issued. 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 dalu a ti on o f th e Customs duties. He believed the report of the committee would bear him out in the belief that those duties had been one of the most fruitful sources of dissension between the commercial public and the Custom-house authorities—(hear, hear) — and therefore, whatever might be the necessity for them in past times, when high duties were charged on all descrip tions of goods, it was considered by th e G over nment that now, when the duties were, with few exceptions, reduced to small and moderate rates, they might be almost entirely abandoned. With respect, however, to the few that would be left, they would still be treated as they had hitherto been. It would be a question with the Government whether the 10 per cent. which was at present paid by the Govern ment upon goods stopped for undervaluation, over and above the value the importer put upon them, should not be reduced to 5 per cent., in order to reduce the limits within which the persons desirous of sailing as near the wind as possible might think it safe to enter their goods ; but the number of cases would be so few that little incon venience would arise whether this regulation was altered or not. The next point the committee reported upon was that of seizures and stoppages, and adjudications of them. With respect to this important subject, it was well known that it had led to great and very angry discussions but he was happy to say that the Board of Customs, before the committee had made their report, had already taken steps in pursuance of the recommendations that had been made to them by the committee, and removed two of the most serious evils which had been complained of. At pre sent, a Custom-house officer seizing ! g oods gave no notice either to the owner or his agent of the reason why he had made the seizure, so that the owner, being left in igno rance as to the cause of the seizure of his goods, was often placed in a most embarrassing position. (Hear, hear.) As early as August last, however, the Commissioners of Cus toms published the following notification of their own accord—a fact which he thought it only fair that the house should be made acquainted with. (Hear, hear) : "Notice.—The Commissioners of her Majesty's Customs hereby give notice that directions have been issued to the officers of the Customs in the united kingdom, that whenever they may seize or stop a vessel, boat, or goods, they are to furnish the owner, when he is known, or his agent, with a written notice, specifying the grounds of detention." _ _ Therefore, so far as that complaint was concerned, he hoped it had been entirely met by this notification. It had also been objected that the Board of Customs was a sort of secret tribunal, a kind of small Star Chamber—(hear, hear) —where cases were decided without the knowledge of the parties interested—(hear, hear)—and where no fair means were allowed to persons to protect their own property. He hoped that this complaint had also been entirely met by the circular which was issued by the board on the 23d of August last " The Commissioners of her Majesty's Customs hereby give notice that they will be prepared, in any case of seizure in London, under the 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 ono 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." Ho 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.) Ho begged also to state, that considerably greater powers had been extended to the landing surveyors with regard to amending entries than they had hitherto possessed. Landing surveyors would now have the power, in cases of small and unimportant amounts, to maintain entries, or to allow them to be amended, without a direct appeal to the Commissioners of Customs, which, in small and trivial cases had very unnecessarily created consider. able delay. (Hear, hear.) He might•add that the Govern ment had desired that the Commissioners of Customs should carefully watch how far this experiment was found to answer its purpose, and, if they saw no reason to object to it, to take every oppor'omity of extending similar powwaseorns o . of T v h o e r y next a c a t s i e m w p - h o r i t c h a o the oe . c o il m e nte r ri e t fer e r o h d a d t o the reportedlaw Nv of costs and penalties. Au impression prevailed that the Crown and the subject wore not placed on an equality in prosecutions in Customs cases. Now, the state of the law was this :—With respect to civil cases—that was, where the CommiSsioners of Customs brought an action for the recovery of bonds, or where there was a difference of opi nion with respect to the law, the Crown stood exactly in, the same position as the subject—that was to say, the losing party paid the costs, whether that party was the Crown or the subject. Then, with respect to the arrears of duty and the recovery of penalties in cases of sinugglina. e , which were partially of a criminal nature, the rule had been for each party to pay its own costs. The Customs in such cases never recovered costs from a defendant, and the defendant had no claim for costs against the Customs. But, with respect to a third class of cases, which probably constituted the great majority of cases—he meant cases of prosecutions against the Crown for goods seized—undoubt edly, as the law at present stood, the Crown was entitled to demand a bond from the defendant to the amount of 1001. for costs before going into court; but in case the defendant was successful he had no claim for costs, whereas, if the Crown was successful, it had a claim for costs against the defendant, although in practice it was generally con fined to the bond of 1001. taken in 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 position as the subject—(hear, hear) — that was to say, that if the Crown should be found to have been right it should have a claim for costs, but that if wrong the subject should have a claim against the Crown. (Hear, hear.) There were by one of the acts which contem plated prosecutions in cases of direct smuggling stringent powers put into the hands of Government ; and with re spect to those powers, he thought it would be unwise for the Government to give them up ; but, so far as regarded costs, the Crown and the subject should henceforth be placed on the same footing. There was, however, one very important feature of this matter to which he wished to call Use attention of the house. It frequently happened in cases where vessels or goods were seized that there was only a nominal owner, or perhaps no owner at all, or some person was put forward who was incapable of bearing costs should an action be brought against him. It had been suggested that, in all such cases, the Crown should be en titled to insist that, before going into court, security for costs should be provided, in case the Crown should be successful. This appeared, at first sight, to be a very reasonable proposition, but, on carefully considering it in all its bearings, ho (Mr. Wilson) had felt that, if adopted, it might perhaps preclude poor men, who were unable to fnrnish security for costs, from an opportunity of fairly defending themselves. Considering, besides, that the Crown was in possession of the goods seized, he thought, on the whole, that the Government might venture to allow the law to remain in this, as in, other respects, as between subject and subject. (near.) 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 bein g derived from the est a bli s hment 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 whi c h occurre d 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 Com ts, 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 canes where the duties or penalties to be recovere d did not exceed 1001., to resort to the County Courts, or such other local tai banal 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 largo, complicated, and unusual principles involved—(hear, hear)—but as a rule they would be obliged to resort to the small court in all cases where the fines and penalties did not exceed 1001. (A Member, " Together ?") Yes, together. But they proposed to go even a s t e p further, and say that, even in cases which involved a larger amount of duties and penal ties than 1001., where the Commissioners of Customs should certify to the Treasury that, from the simple nature of the cases, they might be safely left to the local tribu nals, the Treasury should be empowered to authorise the step so recommended. (Hear, hear.) At present also if a merchant found himself aggrieved by a seizure, and wished to bring an action, he was obliged to proceed against the seizing officer only. Now this was a serious case ; because the merchant might have been put to great inconvenience by the seizure of his goods, and if he found that it was only a Custom-house officer of an inferior rank against whom he must bring his action for damages, undoubtedly he might feel himself placed in an awkward and disadvan tageous position. (Hear, hear.) If the law was closely looked into, it would be found that the seizing officer was only nominally concerned in such transactions, and that the real party was the Commissioners of Customs ; but if there was any uncertainty as to the state of the law on this point—he believed there was none in reference to the practice—that uncertainty would be removed by the Trea sury minute now passed, which made it imperative that in every action under the Customs laws, the Commis sioners should be, if not nominally, yet really responsible. There was another complaint which had been made with respect to the limit of time within which an action might be brought against a Custom-house officer or the Commis sicners of Customs. As the law now stood, the limit was six months from the time of the cause of action arising, but it not unfrequently happened that the trial was post poned, and that a delay of 12 months occurred. parties were thus placed in a very awkward position from the un certainty of the result, and the long delay which took place, and were thereby apt to be deterred from bringing actions. To remedy this evil 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 against the subject. A complaint o wi s ; but ae t t there s was also made with regard to the law of " prescription" in the case of the Crown bringing actions , i with regar ford to this was something to be said. At p resent, in t he case of limit " civil" actions, the Crown was bo und to the of six years, as in every other case ; an for ffences against the Customs laws, the right of the Crown to bring actions was limited to three years in cases brought in any of the superior courts, and to six months for those brought before magistrates. He did not think, therefore, there was any occasion to make any al teration in this respect (Hear, hear, hear.) The next e x m l i h b e i r t oe that recommendation of the committee referred to a most important subject—the trausi t3y: t sm. The transit trade the le n dnil jYaenitxiiorpnedsn se to themselves, to use fea turesofth i o s f eo re u m n a t r r ka y had,b l remarkable during the discussions upon the navigation laws, two or I m t t w f o e u w ld be remembered three years ago, one very great a?drTportant advantage_ anticipated from the change of those the lawsh7as? that 1 1" y f in f t o e r re th st e_ extendStatese anc shipping M P : g t countries by inducing European which had previously sent would Great Britainb e able v u h t e e t r the • great inconvenience shipping of this country for the conveyance of their goods. I in d tremarkable their goods directly to the various parts of the world, at That anticipation had been realised a . ni s - ; degree. In order to give facilities to this trade, .arrane • Hull, Goole, Grimsby, d Southamptos, whereby goods might be landed from ships arriving from foreign corm ' Ments had been made at the ports of London, Liverpool, trios, and without being opened or examined, might THE''''SITN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 22, 1853. THE WHISKY TRADE. In reply to Mr. Cowerr, 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 ments. SOUTH SEA. AND OTHER ANNUITIES' COIYI- 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 conic 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-niolt he should have no objection to postp one t h e 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 purpose of introducing certain amendments which it would be convenient to print, one of which would pro vide that on a day named parties should be required to enter their names in a book at the Bank of England, and the new stock to be created should be distributed to them pro rata. Mr. DISRAELI said he had gathered from 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. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the original resolution would embrace all incomes whatever, but when that was passed it would be for the house t o make an exception in favour of incomes below 1001., and to fix the limit of sd. in the pound on incomes be tween 1001. and 150/. a-year. Mr. WILLIAMS wished to know when it was in tended to take the miscellaneous estimates. Lord 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 house, and by many out of the ouse, that about three years ago a most unhappy controversy arose between the Customs' de partment and two of the large London dock companies. In consequence of that controversy a Parliamentary com. mittee was moved for by the hon. member for Bridport, and granted, and that committee sat for two years, to inquire into the whole management of the Customs 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 referred by the Government of that de:7 to the Customs Commissioners, for their observa tions thereon. The coinmissioners 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 bill should be prepared in the present session, first, for the pur pose of consolidating all the existing acts of Parliament re lating to the Customs, and, secondly for the purpose of introducing all the improvements the Government might think 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 nion 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 Government 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 petient 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 ho 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 revive that controversy, which he was happy to believe was now allayed. The first matter on which the committee reported had reference to the constitution of the Board of Customs ; but in that particular subject, important as it might be in 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. He could only state, on this head, that in the meantime the Government had desired that, shou'.d any vacancies occur in the pre Bent 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 one interesting to a large number of persons in this country, and regarded the appointment and promotion of Customs officers. He was glad that the committee had thought it sight to take that important subject into consideration, because, whatever re forms the Government might introduce into the Customs department, their success would bo 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 1,0C3 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 lino. (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 who 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 passing 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 commend to the Treasury, in respect to one in avery five of the appointments made, the most meritorious officers as landing waiters. In making there changes, the Govern ment were of opinion that there was nothing, perhaps, in this country more contrary to the feeling of the great mass of the people than that there should be distinctions of classes, and lines drawn beyond which men, whatever their merit, could not pass—(hear, hear, hear)—and when it was observed, in the great pro fessions which adorned this country that menrose 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 cular. 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 com munity that the officers were sometimes rather actuated by speculative views with respect to their own interest than by considerations for the interest of the Crown. Howoverlittle he 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 GOO/. a year, should, however, shield them from the charge of being actuated by a desire to share in these small emoluments, amounting on au 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. Tho 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. Complaint 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 be 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 commission of decided fraud. The 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, system, by the measure which the Chancellor of the Ex chequer had already explained 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 end of the year, either by dividing ib 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 beir g 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 doubt 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 snake any alteration on this pas Limier 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 unwise to weaken the inducement which they at present had to incur risk and danger in the discharge of their duty. b e a s s es still were e r r e e tained by distinctly them. d (Hear.) S o f ar, th en, as regar d e d th e C oas t- guar d officers, a n c le But, with wi the whole advantages which they at present enjoyed in re ference to di rec t seizures o f vesse l s an d goo d s, w h ere th e it was casesth that fsuggiing, would exception, the intention of the Government, that the Custom-house officers should have no longer any direct interest whatever iu any fines and satisfactions, or in any profits derivedfrom the sale of goods seized for undervaluation of ad valorem, duties. He hoped that the officers affected by this new arran gement would feel th a t th e other arrangement which it was proposed to make with respect to n promotl' in the service would afford a snore wholesom e and better stimulus to good conduct than that which they a t present derived from the precarious and invidlllns profits o f fi nes an d ti factions. The next head on which the coin neitteehad rep s Orte s ci was that with respect to ad valorem duties. After what the Chancellor of the Exchequer had said a few eveningago, it would be unnecessaryfor hine (Mr. Wilso n ) t o enlarge oii this subject, because the house must have seen that it was the be dispatched by vans and railway to other ports, where they were again to be re-shipped. Goods mignt, for instance, be sent across the cou n t r y i n thi s manner from Hull to Liverpool, and they were thus removed almost directly from ono ship into another without being examined or disturbed. Now, several objections were raised to this arrangement, the most important of which were, perhaps, that some description of goods, the impor ation of which was altogether prohibited, such as copy right books, might in this way be introduced, and that the Customs laws might be contravened by goods bearing Bri tish marks being sent through this country and sold in foreign canneries as British goods. There was, no doubt, considerable force in these objections; but, aft er fully considering them, the Government had thought that they could not be sustained, because if people found it to be their interest to imitate British marks, they could send their goods direct to continental ports as easily as they could bring them through this country, and, there fore, if they insisted upon opening an examining goods, such goods as he had alluded to might be sent by other channels, over which this country could exercise no manner of control. It had, therefore, been resolved, with reference to goods in transitu, that 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 cw ; cheese, 5,026 cwt. ; corks, 15,0101 b. ; grain (all kinds), 1,641 cwt. ; ditto, 8,637 quarters ; glass (all kinds), 44,446 cwt. ; ditto, 131,598 lb. • spirits (all kinds), 400,852 gallons; sugar, 21,482 cave. ; wine (all kinds), 78,874 gallons ; tobacco, 1,474,160 lb. ; but, in addi tion, articles not requiring specification, comprising silk, leather, woollen and cotton manufactures, watches, per fumery, confectionary, and other manufactured goods to the value of 3,414,4511., had also passed through this country during the last year. In the very last month (March), the value of goods entered under the latter description was 420,0001., or at the rate of 5,000,0001. per annum. Now, the effect produced by this traffic on the shipping trade of Liverpool was very remarkable. He would take two periods, the ono 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 between 1849 and 1852 had been 868,000 tons, and the total increase of shipping 861,000 tons. (Hear, hear.) He did not mean to say that this increase was to be entirely attributed to the transit trade, but when they took it in connexion with the fact that goods of the value of about 5,000,0001. were annually in transitu through this country, he thought a very large portion of the increase might be attributed to the transit trade. (Hear, hear.) It was, therefore, the opinion of the Government that every pos sible facility, under which the revenue of the country might be defended from risk of fraud, should be afforded for the extension of the transit trade. Ho 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. (Hear, hear.) They had this advantage—that, whereas many continental countries were so unwise as to impose transit duties, not only did 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 ; andthe 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 6f 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 tho Brazils, the United States, or any other part of the world without being disturbed. It was now necessary that each individualjproprietor of goods • should give bond to the Custom-house for the amount of • duties to which such goods woull be liable; but in order • to increase the facilities of transit the Governnient had ' provided that one single bond should b 3 received from those • railway companies who were willing to give it, and the companies would be held responsible for the safe delivery of the goods in a bonded port or dock. The committee • had suggested that a similar facqity should be afforded with regard to coasting vessels, but he was sorry to say that the Government felt it impossible to comply with that • suggestion. There was a great deal of difference between sending goods coastwise in small vessels and sending them across the country by railway in charge of Custom-house • officers. If they allowed goods to be re-shipped in coasting vessels unexamined, they would not know the contents of the packages, which might be tobacco or anything else, but entered, perhaps, as flax ; and such a system would, undoubtedly, open the door to very extensive smuggling. With regard to goods which had been examined, however, the Government did not intend to withdraw the privilege which now existed of removing them from one bonded warehouse,to another, either by coasting vessels or by rail way. The Government proposed to introduce another im portant modification which was not recommended by the committee. At present, in the case of large transactions between London and Liverpool, when goods were removed in bond, 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 wo understood), and covering a certain amount of transactions. (Hear, hear.) Ho hoped the great success which had attended the facilities that had already boon afforded with respect to the transit trade would lead the house to support the Government in extending these facilities still further. The committee expressed their opi nion that there was no fiscal reason why the importation of arms of all kinds in transit should be prohibited. In that view the Government agreed, and therefore arms would in future be allowed to pass through this country in transit, but in each case the party importing would bo 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 mightbe made of the per mission. The Treasnry orders would be issued as a matter of course, and were only intended as a precaution to prevent the law from being contravened for political or other pur poses. The committee made some observations in the re port as to the size of packages, and suggested that with respect to goods to be exported there need be no restriction on this point. With regard to spirits, tobacco, and some other articles, which presented great facilities for smug gling, the law provided that they could not be imported in packages below a certain size. He thought the mere cir cumstance of goods being imported with the object of being exported could make no difference as to the opportunity afforded for smuggling. Suppose a ship approaching these shores was boarded by Custom-house officers, who found that the cargo consisted of brandy in small casks of five gallons or ten gallons, the captain might say, " Oh, this brandy is for exportation, but the officers would have no means of knowing whether it was intended for exportation or for home consumption. The present practice of the Custom-house, however, he thought entirely met the views of his hon. friend (Mr. Mitchell) because speoilled 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 ha ve b een 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 lodge or privity of the owner or master, and without wilful neglect of reasonable care on their behalf, the commis sioners were authorised to deliver up the vessel to the owner or master. He had made special inquiry on this point, and, as far as he could ascertain, it was the rarest possible thing for vessels to be detained unless it was quite clear that the captains and owners wore 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 thero could be no doubt, but whether the mer chants of that period were influenced by such considerations it was not for him to say. Certainly, however, when Sir R. Walpole proposed a bonding system, even to that limited extent, the members for the City of London, directed by the Common Council, presented petitions from all classes in the city expressing their strong objections to the measure. In' consequence of members being mobbed on their way to 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 through committee before it was reported, matters assumed so serious un aspect in the country that Sir R. Walpole called a meeting of his friends, which was thus described in Cobbaes 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 iu the manner of raising them. When Sir Robert had heard them all, he assured them that he was conscious of having meant well ; that in the present inflamed temper of the people the act could not be carried into execution without an armed force ; that there would be au 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 t o a day beyond 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 tho 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 you wanted your goods, and you left them in the possession of the Crown as a security for the duty. Now the original importer, who entered the goods in the first instaaea, 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 ho had sold the goods, and when they had passed through several hands, and he had no cognisance whether they were in existence, to bo legally liable for the duty if it should be found that a large portion of them had been abstracted. The G overnmen t would therefore pro pose that when the importer should part with his goods they might be re-entered in the name of the purchaser, and weighed or gauged, and the original importer should be no longer liable for the duty except on any deficiency during the time the goods had been his, any such small amount of duty to be paid at once. (Hear.) Further, the Custom -house was to be obliged to take complete stock every five years. (Hear, hear.) It would not be an entire stock-taking of all goods in warehouse at one time, but it would be going on from day to day, and every day, be cause it would be taking stock of all the goods which on that day had been entered five years, so that the process would be going on gradually. (Hear, hear.) The great bilk of goods were cleared in less than five years. (Hear.) worldfyroens h d i w mb h ep a oa t r tr w ae a t- e s i on a nt l r y. l o 7efrdo Thismb ywtdli would d Upon such st oc k-t a ki ng, the duty upon any deficiency be- w t po o rt u oiv l m el i cei e, b e aa paid, sgaiifn stt h a et n rhe d e there whaasrda ship of calling upon persons to pay the duty upon goods many years after they had parted with their interest in them, and also of persons inadvertently selling goods in the quantity of which there had been a material alteration, through accident, or leakage, or fraud. [M r . Mit c h e ll— Do you mean that there is to be a fresh entry on every transfer?"] The seller would be at liberty, if ho chose (it would not be compulsory) to re-enter the goods in the name of the buyer at the time of the sale, transferring the liability when he transferred the property. [M r . Mi tchell— Accompanied by weighing ?"] As to weighing and meas uring that was done at present ; it was necessary for making out your invoice. [A Member—" Oh, no."] In the case of some goods you would take the entry, but with the more valuable goods you would take reweight or remeasurement. However, that was a matter for arrangement between the buyer and seller ; but if the seller failed to take advantage of that security to himself, he must not complain that he had to pay duty to which he was not liable, since he did not take the means to get rid of the liability. (Hear.) With regard to 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 distinctionsiunnecessary 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 ano merchant would have to give any bond at all, but in all cases (as at present in the second class of cases just mentioned) the warehouse keeper would give bond in a moderate amount, and he would be responsible to the Crown for the small deficien cies more than the leakage allowed, as he was responsible to his customer for safe custody of his goods. [Mr. Mitchell.—" Do you propose any alteration with regard to the removal of goods from one floor to another ?"] The practice at present coincided with the recommendation of the committee. They recommended delivery orders, but a book that was kept answered all purposes. (Hear.) The next subject was that of passengers' luggage. The com mittee recommended the examination of all the luggage on board. He (Mr. Wilson) had taken a great deal of pains upon this subject, and arrangements had already been made which might be regarded as an earnest of the desire there was to give every facility and accommodation to pas sengers. (Hear.) With regard to Liverpool, passengers arriving from North America had their luggage examined on 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 exaimined on board was Ant wer p, an d gentlemen who were in a hurry to got a glimpse of the Rhine might think it a very great accommodation, and contrast it with what they might deem our clumsy method. But there was a dark side as well as a bright one in these cases. He had more than once ar rived at Antwerp when it was wet, and found it most in convenient that the luggage was to be examined on deck in the pouring rain. After experience of both he was rather disposed to think the English plan the better of the two. The steamers on the Thames arrived at all hours, and some of the vessels were very small. Suppose the only examina tion was to bo 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 Loudon. 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, he a.) The next subject was the hours of attendance. The committee thought the hours might be from 7 to 5 during the six summer months in the out-door department, subject to a break in the middle of the day, and for in-doors from 8 to 4, a clerk remaining till Bto clear out ships. A few years ago a gene ral regulation was made with regard to attendance at all the Custom-houses, but it was found that the circumstances and the business varied so much that one rule could not be applied to all ports. In Hull, for example, the men wore at work in summer from six o'clock to six, with au interval for breakfast and dinner ; but then they lived close to their word:, and the inconvenience of those intervals was very trifling. In Liverpool the officers lived at a greater distance, and a different arrangement was made, and so in London ; but special arrangements wore 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 largo class of deck business ; and the London Dock Company stated, through their secretary, that in their judgment the present hours were adequate for the purposes of business. On aparticular emergency there was always an extension of the hours. If the attendance was lengthened, the men in Liverpool and London must either take a long interval in the middle of the day to go to their homes at a distance, or they must resort to taverns, which it was not desirable for officers to do. But direc tions had been given that every possible facility should be afforded, and especially where merchants were willing to pay for the expense of attendance for extra time ; and ar rangements had been made, whereby vessels could be cleared out to a much later hour than heretofore. The hours could not be extended in the indiscriminate way that was recommended without an addition to the salaries of a large number of men • there wore 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 °Seers connected with that department than if the duties had never existed; so with all Excise duties, and it was almost acanon in fiscal regulations that when you touched an Excise duty you should remove it altogether. (Hear, hear.) But, in the case of Customs' duties you must remember that free goods might be made the medium of smuggling. The committee had recommended " that the ship's manifest and the report of her consignee be the sole entry required in the case of free goods, and that a copy of them be sent to the landing waiter as his warrant." But a bale professing to contain one thing might be the medium of conveying another ; a barrel of potatoes might have tobacco in the middle of it. A ship's manifest, which was but a list of the cargo, told nothing, unless what it consisted of was stated ; there might be amiseed 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 incurred by such a regulation, he should, witlipermissionof the house, describe a few cases' in which Smuggling had been attempted on au 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, ho found that it consisted of compressed snuff iu the centre, with two cakes of oil-cake on either side. The agent came forward and gave the name of the owner who had employed him, and stated that another quantity of the same article had been passed at another wharf. What came of that? 56 cwt. of oil-cake and 52 cwt. of snuff, on which the duty was 1,666/. There was a case at Leith, in which the bill of lading was math) out in the name of Long—no such person being known—and in which the Custom house officer, having received informa tion' found alarge quantity of tobacco at the bottom of 5 casks of potatoes. It was asked what reward would be given for information on the transaction ; and for some re ward which was offered the person who had not succeeded in making a large sum by smuggling gave information to the Custom-house officers ' 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 not extend that facility so as to endanger the re venue and the interestsof the fair trader. Ostend butter had become a favourite article of import. The anxiety to get it to market was met by every facility. A number of cases of Ostend butter were landed from a steamer a few days ago. The rolls were not weighed, but counted ; and an officer with a piece of clean wire probed a roll, which he found to contain something hard. Each had in it a tin such as that ho had in his hand (the hon. member held up i one of them) full of tobacco, the duty on which for each case was 201. At Liverpool 32 tierces or hogsheads of pro visions When the arrived in an American ship. The dock company, weret h e oneeir a * n do ut tiercess g a large quantity of tobacco. The owner never appeared ; if bl e e l d ea to re p d ie t c h e e s T way, tum those tierces had passed, he could have produced his bill of lading, and claimed the goods. At Glasgow, a short time ago, 120 barrels of rosin wore landed. The rosin, which given to was run into barrels in a liquid state, and congealed, was brought in a solid form to this country, where the barrels were examined by one in ten being cut in two ; 120 barrels w ere passed ; but from an intimation which was the Custom-house officers they were led goods ; and they found that, out of the 120 barrels,olow the to bacco enough came to yield duties amount. large steamer arrived iu tho'river in § 9te ill ufb t : r 5 1 3 . 0 s 3 t i. w i t A h cask came out, what purported to be rapeseed oil, which was passinc , as ilmatedn the ee outsidepie c t: of it a was foulnlidetrheatw,atsher with tobacco. The duty an o d n e all sei zreodu roundwas s t n u o ff l e e t s l s i f t i lV e e e oti gw th d e s o , than 1 500/ a tobaccospace thane another was be tween case of smuggling to which he wished * of Bolougne had arrived from to advert. The City some two months ago, an officer , oulogne in the Thames mate's room, found the t, • going into the chief " Whose boots chief -mate are these?" " T ate • • theosing, and said, mat h ; and the officer on looking hey are mine," replied the in te boot. The mate into them founsl4o watches capable of holding a groat many putting on an article of dress a bag, with a string for' many watches. (It seemed to be When a person landed who might wear it, having appa rently a good large chest, of there would be au end of the matter. There was a case ' v d eiT he serious nature to which it was necessary to advert , suer had at tracted a great deal of notice , n as it w m a o s r a e ca so s a e s in it which a hart of the public press had been imposed on, and also as it was a case in which persons who stood as high as any in credit and reputation had been imposed on and made un wittingly the means of bringing charges of a most serious kind and without the slightest foundation against s ome most deserving officers. It was a case with which members would be acquainted as one purporting to be a case of great injury to a Mr. Marchand. Early last year the Commis:- sioners of Customs had intimation that a very lam system of smuggling hay been organised and was carried on. The chairman said, " On general information I cannot act. Give us such information as shall lead to the detection of the parties engaged in au 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 Redford-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 chal-ged 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 5,0001. 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 wasor having Prosecuted and imprisoned ; s h e ex p resse d con t r iti on av ing p b u e t e i n i engagedc sale. The in foreman this c crime. of m e m . a a. T e h h e a ngdo cameods w a e n r d e i put up to examined them ; Marchand did so himself ; but several months after, when the case had been compromised for 2501., paid f or P ayne by this very man, he came with a pe tition praying to h ave h is he was out of danger, till t g h o e o d e a s sree had e b d e . e n H e o e m s p t a r o y m d s e t t i l l! The commissioners said they could not do anything. He pbyetitthieonheodnt.hgeenTjleeamsaunryo.ppoTshieteca. case wscarebfulecalymeexkanmoiNnvedn, The a facts 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. He (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. Marchand wrote to Mr. Travers, who he regretted to think should have been imposed upon, and than whom none had inherited a higher commercial name, or added a greater lustre to that name by the man ner in which he had conducted his business. Marchand said, " Give me my books and papers back, and I will prove everything." What were the facts ? The goods were seized on the 10th of February. On the 12th his bill book was returned ; every paper was returned in the early part of March, and the receipt of his solicitor taken. That was the foundation of all the imputations made against the Custom-house officers—whom he trusted that, by his statement of those circumstances, he had entirely excul pated. Among the papers was a copy of a memorial which Marchand had presented to the Customs ; and one of the watches in the steamboat was traced as having been sold by Marchand, and sent back to 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 wag, 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 bo lost in making the entry. [Mr. Mitchell inquired what was to be done with free goods outwards I With respect to the entry of fre e goods outwards, the com mittee proposed that the bill of lading should be seat with the information required. If there were no goods in regard to which you did not require bond or give drawback, you !night 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 kayo cognisance of everything in regard to the discharge and the sailing and clearances of such ships. With respect to the codification of the present Acts of Parliament, hon. members were probably not aware, that prior to 1825 the number of acts relating to the Customs amounted to 1,500. Perhaps one of the most laborious and meritorious works that were ever performed by man was the reducing those 1,500 acts of Parliament into the compass of the small volume he then held in his hand. That work was performed by Mr. James Deacon Hume, and he believed that the very book he then had before him was the one which Mr. Hus kisson produced to the house in the year 1825 as one of the greatest triumphs of human labour that he had ever heard. of. In alluding to that work, he might adduce it as fur nishing a remarkable example of the sound policy of the present regulations established at the Customs-office with regard to promotions. The principle there recognised was that every public officer, in however humble a position, ought to have the prospect of, sooner or later, rising to the most prominent station, provided he 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- they 'reduced ; and in 1845 the whole of those 1,500 acts were finally comprised in six acts of Parliament only. In structions had now been given to reduce those six acts into one act—(hear, hear)—which would nevertheless include every rule necessary to conduct the business of the Cus toms. The present solicitor to the Customs had undertaken that work, and he had proceeded with it in a manner that would do him great credit. Ho had discarded all technical terms—(hear, hear)—using plain and v n lls d i si o m n p ) le ho l pe an c g i u v a e g r e y , which any person who comprehended the English language could not misunderstand. He mr 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 be made, instructions had been given to the Custom-house Commissioners that every month all new regulations that might be made should be published ; and it was intended (so we understood) that every new regulation so made should, at the end of every year, be added to the act, so that a single act of Parliament should at all times contain the whole of the Customs' regulations. He now came to the subject of the outports, which was one of very groat importance. When the present constitution of the Board of Customs was framed, and the present regulations were laid down, a very different state of things with regard to the outports existed to what was now the case. In 1817 the amount of shipping in the port of Liverpool was only 700,464 tons, whereas in the year 1850 it amounted to 3,786,000 tons. In 1817 the tonnage of shipping in the port of London was 1,226,885 tons ; in 1850 it was 3,289,000 tons, being 500,000 tons less th an i n t h e port of Liverpool. In 1817 the tonnage of shipping iu the port of Hull was 268,703 tons ; in 1850 it was 836,000 tons. In 1817, in the Clyde, the tonnage was 106,512 t ons ; i n 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 1850 it was 217,003 tons. The total exports in 1850 amounted to 71,300,0001. The value of exports from Liverpool was 34,891,000/. ; from London, 14,137,050/. ; from Hull, 10,360,030/. ; from Glasgow and the Clyde, 4,150,000/. ; making together 63,544,0001. ; leaving the balance of 7,756,0)01. exported from the various other ports of the kingdom. These facts showed that the time had come when there must be a change in the organ isation of the Custom-house 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.teation 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 moans of a board or by any other form which it might b 3 considered necessary to establish. That was the decision to which the Government had arrived ; and, considering that Liverpool was rapidlj , increasing in importance, they ta f o e m l n t iasn t they arrangement evend not i a b a j y u . s tle h c e l ienoin postponingmCommissioners such an to u p e o x n t extend casesth e existing not . lar v °i a f: l e u r i ob N oe v le it nto h a oi t t lih i u 7q iij u se°a ir l ing the parties to wait, as they were now obliged to do, till the Board of Customs conducted in open court, and a report of all decisions was i ca n euet L dhi o on n rgi d ty O lyi n ootahtle. could be appealed to. The inquiries were to be directed to be made weekly to the board in London,. , for the purpose of preserving uniformity in practice. The The County Court of Liverpool would e alsoses limitedb to to those who wished to go to it in all (r oveal i n o me L n i t ver we o r o e l now induced that that town was becon.lne. because it could not be deniedm of this country. He Lad from r as er a ss the the great commercial emporium now g one through the whole or the recommendations of the the Ellni be Lad enx'teenntdiontehli.s a T d h va ° nt G a ' v e p . in regard to the Customs. There was one small o u n r s c e h tq a hi s ia e ct ( n 1 matter • the Government meant to make a change of committeeiipon which the committee Itiley t upon, which considerable i mportance. He alluded to the Isle of Man. lee shouldll n o nou report, e e e P o e f g l u A . n t ut h b lt u o eso l l the Customs duties there was much lower than in this f facilities being afforded for smuggling. To obviate those (cAloVi ffiuhuce country; difficulties yt t that island s l ifiw a iciauisd arrangeddifficulties was d to particular persons to import alimited arti cles subject to duty. But•of appr 'cations were constantly being made to have those quantities i con sulting with th e Li eute nant-G overnor ncreased. After of the i s l an d, th e Commissioners o f C us t oms had to the conclusion that it wo u ld b e wise to entirely aclnliesh sys tem, raise the ra t es of duty, and permittli•? importation sginlicen to any extent whatever. He could not conclude his observa tions without referri ng , very shortly, to the great blame which had b een cast upon the Custom-house authorities in London. He would mention a remarkable fact .He would ask the house to consider the vast increase of labour which had been imposed upon the Custom-house officers in a few years. In 1832 the exports and imports amounted to 82,C:13,000/. Now the amount of business to be done by the Custom-house officers might be measured by the amount of imports and exports. What, then, was the amount of imports and exports in 1852 ? Instead of 82,000,0001. it was 187,003,0001. 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 10,868 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 5,600,000 tons to 16,000,003 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 facts which ought to be borne n mini -ho when persons complained of the conduct of Creston s tatement, and ase officers. The object ho had in making thisss that the meat ofl eying these papers before the house, house and the b d est possible facility should be g iven to the h country to understand what were the intentions of the H h this subject. osou ld take steps to Government upon proper form to all the outports of forward the papers in