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

3. FINES AND SATISFACTIONS.

In considering this subject, my lords cannot but bear in
mind that the penalties imposed for defrauding the revenue,
and the securities which are taken with a view to prevent
evasion of the payment of the full duties established by law,
are as needful for the interests of the honest and upright
dealer as they are for preserving the rights of the Crown ; and
my lords recognise it as otie of their duties, to take every
care to protect the fair dealer against being placed in a dis-
advantageous position in relation to his competitors in trade
on account of the duties which he has paid ; and this applies
equally, though in different degrees, to cases where goods are
undervalued for ad valorem duties, and to cases of direct
smuggling. But. while my lords feel it incumbent upon them
to adhere to those objects most rigidly, they are desirous that
the ordinary course of trade shall be interfered with as little
as possible.
These " fines," by which term they are desirous all pecu-
niary mulcts imposed by the board shall in future be distin-
guished (the term " satisfaction" being no longer applicable
to the existing state of things), aro connected with seizures of
goods, which may be classed under two heads : 1. Nominal
detentions of goods for inaccurate description, wrong deno-
mination, or non-compliance with the law from inadvertence
or negligence. 2. Detentions for undervaluation, and seizures
in case of attempted smuggling, and other cases of clear and
decided fraud. It is especially in reference to the latter class
which consists of attempted evasion of duties, that both the
Crown and the fair trader are interested in a rigorous and
vigilant execution of the law. With regard to the former
class, though it is necessary for the accurate performance of
business, and though laxity in enforcing the regulations would
lead to facilities for fraud, yet my• lords are of opinion that
they may safely rely upon the general character of the officers
for a strict performance of their duty without any other en-
couragement or inducement.
With regard to the first description of cases in the second
class, viz., under-valuations for ad valorem duties, which it
appears is the most fruitful source of contention and incon-
venience, my lords cannot regard the present state of the law
as at all satisfactory. The difficulty of determining the pre-
cise value of the goods, the frequent attempts to enter goods
below their value—sometimes by the owners to defraud the
revenue, and sometimes by, agents to defraud their
principals
—and the numerous cases in which wrong values are given
(which are afterwards permitted to be amended, where no
fraud was intended), all lead to great inconvenience and fre-
quent detention of, goods. And the regulation by which the
Commissioners of Customs are permitted to take the goods on
the Crown's account, by paying the owner the price at which
they are valued, with 10 per cent. thereon, and which en-
titles the seizing officer to a moiety of the net profit derived
from sale by the Customs authorities, is stated to have
pro-
duced a suspicion of undue strictness in this class of case,.
My lords would observe that if, as they hope may soon be
the case, the application of the principle of ad. valorem duties
may be materially narrowed, the inconvenience arising out of
this class of cases will be greatly mitigated; and, in that
event, my lords are of opinion that they may he safely dealt
with in the same manner as the first-named class ; and that
the officers seizing or detaining goods shall, in future, have
no personal or direct interest in the fines imposed in such
cases, or in the profits derived from the sale of ad valorem
goods ; but that all such fines and such profits shall be paid
into a separate fund, and dealt with in the same way as the
fines are in the Inland Raenue department, viz., distributed
amongst the officers periodically. My lords are f opinion, in
relation to this class of cases, that the mode proposed, accom-
companied by a careful discrimination of merit in the promo-
tions in the service, will form a much' sounder stimulus to
exertion than that which at present exists, and that it will be
free -from the suspicion 'at present often entertained, that
officers are actuated rather' by speculative considerations as
to advantages which may accrue to themselves than by the
interests of the Crown ; and that, consequently, much unne-
cessary trouble is given to merchants.
But with regard to the second description of cases in class
2—seizures made on the coast or elsewhere from smugglers—
my lords aro of opinion that no change whatever should be
made in the present system, but that the danger to which
officers are exposed entitles them to all the advantage they
now have in the case of seizure ; not only as an inducement
to vigilance, but as a reward whon it is successful.

4. AD VALOREM- .DUTIES.
At a time when it was the policy. of this country to levy
considerable duties on articles of import generally, the mode
of charging by value was necessary as a mitigation of that
system, which would otherwise have operated with intolerable
severity upon articles of inferior quality in their class. But
am mg the many benefits attendant upon recent legislation,
not the least considerable is that, except upon a few articles,
our rates of duty are now low,- and that in consequence there
is no fear of an undue pressure upon the lower qualities of
articles from their being charged in the form of specific rates.
My lords are, therefore, of opinion that the recommendation
of the Parliamentary committee in relation to this subject
should be carried into effect as far as it is possible, and that
articles now introduced as " uuenurnerated," and which ne-
cessarily must always be charged on the ad valorem principle,
should be revised and considered, with a view, as far as it is
Practicable, to bring them under specific rates, or place them
in the free list.
With regard to whatever ad valorem duties may necessarily
be left, my lords are of opinion that the present mode of deal-
ing with goods which are seized and detained for under-
valuation should be treated .ex!ctly as they now are; except
only as described under the head of " Fines and satiactions,"
my lords are pleased to direct that the seizing officer shall
have no personal or direct interest in the sale, but
fines that the
profit, if any, shall be paid into the general fund of ,
5. SEIZURES AND STOPPAGES AND ADJUDICATIONS

OF THEM.
Under this head of the committee's report, my lords ob-
serve that the following modifications have been already in-
troduced by the Commissioners of Customs in conformity
therewith ; first, it has been made incumbent upon every offi-
cer seizing or stopping a vessel, boat, or goods, to furnish the
owner or agent with a written notice, specifying the grounds
thereof, in accordance with the following circular :
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 sieze or stop a vessel, boat, or goods, they are to