The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-17 00:00:00

SAT DA y

BOA HD OF CUSTOMS.
(From the Times.)
I_
_le the midst cf the political confusion and turmoil
cons :Lunt upon the accession to power of a new Mi-
matey, our attention has been for a time diverted from
the proceedings of the Sslect Committee on the Board of
Cast ens. Tee subject, however, is one of so much im-
portance to the commercial classes of the empire, that it
must not be lest "sight of even in the presence of ques-
tions which require more immediate decision. Surely
even tke. aoctkinis' of Pr-oteetkn do n-nt. involve the ne-
, cessiey orpiotecting-this- abuse.:cap natter but little
to' it OattriN-Itn-iy.,btley-ljr. Mr. Buek if: theesiechants'
- Great . &Unita aro liberated from series of exactions
and aneoyarices which thwart eheir best conceived ope-
- rebel* without brfriging one. farthing of profit to the
national Ex-Chequer& Not-ansaddithenal quarter of corn,
not- an -extra 1300ttiibullock, would find its way to Mark-
' lane or Smithfield if the-Baardsofetretonis should be come-
pelted to revise,their-eYsteen of administration. What is
!Oil in coneequence or their present arbitrary exercise of
power is boat without advantage to any class interest. In-
, deed, we should Ise inclined to augur well from the cir-
J cuMstance that a new set of statesmen have succeeded to
Lord John Ruesell and hie
power; as far es the solution of this question is con_
were instituted
iserned. The frivolous -:and seandaleui prosecutions
Company
yneysGeneral who
Lewis—who was placed upon the Committee
cutt.ogmlialieenarsgittt
ietehs.eAdLlatloinndwiboatrsri a
tilDioonewokifii
hs
gfs o
pmi
aa
caem Selecta n reluctantmr
sevinhcitgionmedi:ihsteryintfleiramt
tehteiti.
appointment-oft
could
Com-
mitted was extracted. It was a
Casareirew;eilocato del Diavolo, when its appointment
be no longer resisted. It was the Whig Premier who
pokily received the deputation of merchants and sent
them away unsatisfied. Lord Derby and his colleagues
are not pledged to the continuance of at least these
time-honoured abuses. On the contrary, they have now
the opportunity of gaining some small measure of popu-
larity from the classes which may be supposed, on all
questions of principle, to be most hostile to their tenure
of power. This result may be obtained by a simple
edministrative reform which will not interfere with one
single economic doctrine, or give umbrage to the most
ultra zealot of their own supporters.
We need scarcely recapitulate the scandalous events
which led to the appointment of the committee. It is
clear, from the mouths even of the Customhouse wit-
nesses, ~that the administration of the Board is secret,
irresponsible, despotic. It is clear that any merchant
who is ill-advised enough -to complain of their oppres-
sive methods of procedure enters into a labyrinth from
which be cannot hope to escape without grievous loss
and annoyance. He is tossed back from the Honourable
Board to "my Lords," and from "my Lords" to the
Honourable Board, withent any practical power of meet-
ing his accusers face to face. He can have no reasonable
grounds for reliance except they be upon the justice and
lair-dealing of - an irresponsible tribunal, before wbich
he -is note even permitted to plead his own cause. He
is not confronted with his accusers. The Custom-
house officers are examined, but be is not permitted to
appear. The underling of the Board may blush, but
he' is not there to mark his agitation, or to take
advantage of the confusion of conscious guilt. The
superintendent backs up the tide-waiter, and the in-
spector the superintendent, or whatever may be the title
of his immediate superior in the fiscal hierarchy. Should
the persecuted merchant whose property is unjustly de-
tained—or " under stop," as the Custom-house slang
runs—be irritated out of his discretion, no doubt he has
his remedy. To the Barons of the Exchequer lies his
appeal, and to the Barons of the Exchequer he may go.
We are far from wishing to speak lightly or with disre-
spect of these learned personages. Their court presents
the only possibility of obtaining justice in such a case.
The commercial interests of the country have reason to
be grateful to Chief Baron Pollock for the manner in
which he presided over the recent trial between the Board
of Customs and the Dock Company. But it must not be
imputed as a fault to the Barons of the Exchequer if
they aro called upon to participate in the administration
Cf an abominable syetem. It is not their fault if the
Crown " pays no costs ;" it is not their fault if the
suitor to their court can only obtain the restitution of
his rights at the expense of a grievous loss—possibly of
his own ruin. All they can do is to determine the right
and the wrong of any particular ease that may be brought
before them upon the established maxims of English law,
and in open court. This they do. Their decision- is
the only one throughout the whole proceeding that is
fairly asked and fairly obtained without mystification,
and injustice. It is the only tribunal before which all
questions between the merchant and the Custom house
official are adjudicated upon otherwise than on ex parte
statements. Is not the inference an obvious one? Why
is not the judgment of an open court obtained in the
first, mid not in the last instance? It does not require
the practised acuteness and deep learning of these vener-
able magistrates to decide equitably upon such paltry liti-
gation. Let there be an open court at the waterside.
where such questions can be entertained as they
arise, and receive' summary adjudication. Let
the doors be ,thrown open to the public, and the ac-
cuser and the accused be confronted in the face of the
day. It is only .necessary to select persons as judges
who shall from their position and character be beyond
the reach of suspicion, and who will without fear or
favour decide equitably between the parties to the suit.
'All we ask for is publicity. No judge who sits in open
court throughout the length and breadth of these islands
can give two or three manifestly unrighteous decisions
without being exposed to contempt and ruin.
The labours of the select committee must not be suf-
fered to be entomed in blue-books without bearing fruit
.in practice. The testimony of the Custom-house wit-
nesses is quite sufficient to involve the necessity of a
thorough reform, even were we to discard the statements
of the parties aggrieved. It is a very significant fact,
that, despite of all the efforts made by the Government
to pack the committee, the Commissioners could only
stave off a verdict which most have led to their
instant dismissal by a majority of one, the
voices of the committee would have been
equally divided had Mr. Mitchell, the chairman
n lo
which hedge round the
preceedings- of a Parliamentary Committee. It must net
hbeoe was restrained ainteodgbiyve the forms his vote. From this, however,
be understood that the Commissioners have obtained an
acquittal; they have simply avoided a solemn verdict of
" guilty." Nothing more. The practical value of such
a -result may best be understood from a simple enumera-
tion of the supporters of Mr. Lewis's amendment. First,
there was Mr. Cornevrall Lewis, as a matter of course;
Mr. Mitchell could not vote in favour of his own motion,
but Mr. C. Lewis might vote in favour of his amend-
ment. Then follow three more Bureaucrats—Sir George
. Clerk, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Goulburn. Mr. Goulburn's
son being one of the. Comusiseionere. Then we grieve
to find the names of Sir J. Y. Buller and Mr. Moody,
What had this brace of Squires to do in
the galley of Red-Tanista? Finally, comes Alder-
man Humphery, the latest convert. On the other side,
and in favour of the verdict which would have led to the
dismissal of tho Commissioners, we find the following
significant names:—Alderman Thompson, Mr. William
brown, Mr. Matthew Forster, Mr. Anderson, Mr. J.
M‘Gregor, Mr. A. Hasa& Mr. Mitchell bad proposed
a vote of censure upon-the Comuaissioners and their
solicitor for their outrageous abase of power, and he
was supported by the gentlemen just named. The pub-
lic will perfectly understand the value and meaning of a
motion so. defeated. - The Commissioners have every
reason to be grateful to Mr. Cornewall Lewis for having
so dexterously saved their incomes for them, even by
such questionable methods. The System, however, Is
doomed. Whatever Administration
,may be in power,
one of its earliest acts must be a large and comprehen-
_sire measure of reform at the water-aide. When a
better state of things shall have been brought about our
:only wonder will be that the merchants of the empire.
should so long have acquiesced in so intolerable a sys-
tem of vexation and oppression.

OUR AUSTRIAN AMBASSADOR.
The Earl of Westmoreland
hB"made himself chiefly
remarkable, during his short diplomatic residence in
Vienna, for strong indications of friendship for the late
Prime Minister Schwarzenberg, and for an enthusiastic
oriuerntceesdies and kind offices
in obtaining from
devotion- to the captivating science of music.
To the first
peculiarity, complaining tourists attributed an exceeding
the difficulty
embassyso
Which it is a main duty of embassies to grant. How-
ever, as that curious friendship has been rudely and sud-
denly severed, perhaps no future cause of complaint will
arise on that score. The second • peculiarity (an innocent
and graceful one when not indulged to excess) has also
been referrtd to as a contributing cause of
neglect which
some English travellers have experienced. If a noble-
man accredited himself from the Court of Apollo,
and be
accredited from the Court of Sc. James's at the same
time, the interests of one court or the other must, in the
long run, suffer. One thing is certain—that the affairs of
the Muses are not neglected; in proof of which
we need
only adduce one
_circumstance which will doubtless
startle some of the old-school diplomatists. We learn
that the de facto British ambassador to the Court of
Vienna is about to absent himself at Prague from his
post, for the purpose of conducting in person in the ca-
thedral of that ancient and most musical city, n mass
specially composed (at his Lordship's request by one of
his Lordship's protEges) for the repose of the soul of
Prince Sehwarzenberg of pious memory.
The spectacle of a representative of this great Pro-
testant and free English empire performing en office
usually undertaken by fiddlers (not to employ the term
disrespectfully to the regular profession), and performing
it in a Human Catholic cathedral, as part of a rite which
Protestants repudiate; paying, moreover, a solemn mark
of esteem to a deceased Minister whose political pri„i_
pies and political acts the English, as a nation, abhor, is
not calculated to attract that respect which we covet
from foreigners, or to keep up that dignity which we
pay to our ambassador six thousand a year to support.
—Daily" News.
---

RAPID VOYAGE.—The beautiful screw-steamer
Fearless, designed by Mr. G. N. Duck. of Bristol, has just
made a rapid voyage to and from the Azores, having accom-
plished the run from London in eight dap, taken in cargo,
and returned loaded, notwithstanding head-winds, in nine
days. - She has also delivered her cargo in prime condition,
thus showing that the idea that foreign fruit =net be kept
sufficiently cool in steam-vessels is erroneous.
APOTHECARIEe HALL.—The following are the
names of the gentlemen who passed their examination in
the science and practice of medicine, and received certificates
to practise, on Thursday, the 15th of April :—David Jones
Whitty, Britonferry, Glamorganshire ; Thomas William John
Goldsboro, Welsbpool, Montgomeryshire; William Webb,
Barton-under-Needwood.; John Long, Leeds; John Charles
bSuatvrey, ry,slolrnasetrisnegts; ;
John CharlesCharles
Thomas Sanders;
iu rile-ll°, b fl 3, Cambridge.
t.O Cuff, North-
shire; Richard Bird Nason, Nuneaton, 'Warwickshire ; Au-
gustin Benoit Pettiau, London; John Hall; Samuel Wright,
Huntingdon ; . Henry Charles Warren, Milverton, Somerset-
ihire ; Henry Osborne, Northampton.
Lord Paumures funeral is fixed for Tuesday.next,
when he will be interred in the family v vault in Breehin
e_lunthyard. , .-.. .