The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-12 00:00:00

THE

BILL.

The following remarks on the above-named bill are
contained in a circular from the City Committee for
Reform of the Customs :
At a meeting of the committee, held at 19, Swithin's-
lane, Monday, August 1, 1853, it was unanimously re-
solved :-
1. That the Customs Bill, printed with the amend-
ments, proposes a more comprehensive title for the act.
2. That it is accompanied by a bill repealing previous
acts, and giving a schedule of those acts.
3. That it restricts the withdrawal of an agent's
license to cases of fraud and misconduct (cl. 16, line 40,
as amended).
4. That it requires a copy of the order of dismissal,
stating the cause to be served upon such agent (cl. 16,
line 41, as amended).
5. That it includes the withdrawal of agents' licenses
in the cases for the Commissioners' Court (cl. 31, lines
13, 14, as amended).
4. That it enables parties to be heard, before what is
termed the open court, by their agents (d. 84, line 2, as
amended).
7. That it requires the decision of the board, upon the
commissioners' hearing of the case, to be delivered in
open court (cl. 35, line 24, as amended).
8. That it gives parties a right of appeal within a
week of such decision (cl. 35, line 40, to the end, as
amended).

9. That it omits clause 106, which required the im-
porter or owner to be liable for all deficiencies and duties
upon goods, unless upon every change of hands they
were re-warehoused in the name of the new owner (el.
106, in bill as first printed). _
_ .

lb. It brings all cases, where either the duties or
penalties claimed by the Crown do not exceed the sum
of 1001., within the jurisdiction of the county courts
(cl. 260, line 3, in bill as amended).

IL That it extends the time for taking proceedings
against officers, for acts done in execution of their duty,
from one to two months, and gives single instead of
treble costs in case of a verdict against the plaintiff (cl.
314, lines 31 and 41).
12. That all orders made by the Customs during the
year shall be printed (cl. A, 852, amended.)
That the above amendments in clauses are all more or
less important.
That the committee consider the Repealing Act, sche-
dule of Acts repealed, and the synopsis of Customs
Consolidation Bill of 1853, setting forth the unrepealed
clauses of existing acts, and the reasons for their tempo-
rary continuance, as giving much useful information, and
more practical value to the act, than it possessed when
considered at their meeting held on the 14th of last
month.
That the committee have been informed that a Trea-
sury minute will be issued upon the appointment and
promotion of officers, giving all who have had reasonable
experience the right to be examined for promotion, and
establishing the rule, that of every five vacancies occur-
ring in the landing department, two shall be filled up
from the weighers, lockers, and tidewaiters of experi-
ence and known excellence of character, who shall have
obtained certificates of examination.
That the subjects for examination for the several classes
of officers are to be published, and laid upon the table of
the House of Commons, as a sessional return.
That in the estimates for 1854, the whole of the pay-
ments now permitted to be made by the revenue are to
be included in the votes, and that thenceforward the
gross revenue is to be paid into the Exchequer.
That the committee consider these valuable conces-
sions to Customs reform.
That the bill is still deficient upon the following es-
sential points :
I. It omits mention of the right of appeal of an agent
to the open court (cl. 16, line 53).
11. It does not render the open court sufficiently ac-
cessible to be of practical business utility.
M. It does not define what court in the city of Lon-
don, where there is no county court (and the Lord Mayor's
Court could but rarely be satisfactory), is to be the court
of appeal from decisions of the Customs court, or of trial,
in cases where the penalties or duties do nut exceed 1001.
IV. It does not state that counsel may attend for par-
ties before the Customs court ; the term agent is not
sufficient. Unless counsel be specifically named, the
rules of the profession would prevent their attendance
(cl. 34, line 2).
V. It does not relieve the importer or owner from all
liability of goods under the lock and key of the Customs,
and to which he has no access unless in charge of a Cus-
tom-house officer (cls. 103, line 19 ; 104, lines 2 and 3).
VI. It does not enact that all liability, alike of impor-
ter, owner, and warehouse-keeper, shall cease upon the
delivery of the goods from the warehouse by the Cus-
toms.

That for the amendment of the bill in these particu-
lars, it is essential-
1. That the 31st clause, instead of giving full power
to the Board of Customs, in the first instance, to hear
and determine all cases, shall be so framed as to make
it possible for parties obstructed in their business by
any proceeding of the Customs to come at once before
the commissioner in open court, and have the point
heard and determined, and the right of appeal reserved.
The delay, and trouble, and waste of time of the present
system of memorials, lead those who have business at the
Custom-house to submit continually to ignorant, over-
bearing, and obstructive conduct on the part of the
officers, and unjust decisions on the part of the
board. The open court, as it stands in the bill,
would be open only through the same • system of
petitions, and would not meet the wants, either o
the commercial community or of the Customs. The
can be no difficulty in having a Court of Customs
as open as the Lord Mayor's Court, or a police-
office. That for this purpose clause 31 should enact—
That one commissioner shall sit daily in a convenient
apartment appointed for the purpose, and having, in
plain letters, upon it, in some conspicuous place, the
words, " Court of Customs," to hear and determine any
dispute which shall arise between any masters, or owners
of ships, merchants, importers, consignees, shippers, or
exporters of goods, or their agents, and any officer of
Customs, with reference to the seizure, or detention, of
any ship or goods, or duties upon deficiencies of goods
in bond, or to any apparently accidental omission, inad-
vertence, or non-compliance with the laws or regulations
relating to the Customs, or touching the withdrawal of
agents' licences, in the same manner as such inquiries
are conducted before justices, with the same freedom of
admission to all parties, and the same rights to plaintiff
and defendant to examine and cross-examine witnesses,
and be heard by their counsel, solicitors, and agents.
2. That clause 33 will require to be amended, so as to
provide—That,
nevertheless, where no such hearing
shall, in the first instance, be had, and any such master,
owner, merchant, importer, shipper, exporter, or agent
shall feel himself aggrieved by the determination of the
Commissioners of Customs in any of the cases aforesaid,
or have any ground of complainant against any officer
of customs in respect of anything done or omitted to be
done by such officer in or about the execution of his
duty, the party so feeling himself aggrieved, shall upon
an application in writing to the Commissioners of Cus-
toms, which application shall state the substance of his
complaint, or the reasons of his dissatisfaction with mph
determination, be entitled to have the facts and circum-
stances of such complaint or determination inquired
into before the commissioners in open court, on a day to
be fixed for the hearing.
3. Clause 34 may be entirely omitted.
4. That clause 35 be amended—The commissioner so
hearing the case shall be at liberty to consult with the
other members of the board ; the commissioners shall
either determine to prosecute, if they deem it a proper
case of prosecution, or decide the case upon such evi-
dence, and make their order thereon accordingly, which
order shall be communicated by a commissioner in open
court either on the same day or a future day to be ap-
pointed at the bearing for that purpose ; and every order
of the Commissioners of Customs, made upon consider-
ation of the facts, circumstances, and evidence so re-
ported by the commissioner by whom
anywhom al shall
spuecnhintyl nuiryr
have been holden, shall, in case
miti-
gated penalty, or forfeiture, shall be adjudged by such
order to be paid or enforced, be of equal force, validity,
ajtiluhlnased effect, i
make,
hands
aelodcnr tsd,
unais
taci
nnac neytsyi
wesc ooponrri ;a. curmt
cieotoinuro
eon fwooofrfe
tamhpenaltiesndol
iwrsid,shyei
oircnl huae
wnr
sadnteoyor
Customs to any justice or justices of the peace, it
shall be Lawful for such justice or justices to enforce such
or ler, in the same manner and by the like authority as
such justice or justices is or are now empowered to en-
force orders under, and by virtue of an act passed in the
11th and 12th years of the reign of her Majesty Queen
Victoria, chap. 43, unless the party against whom such
order shah have been made shall, within one week after
the same shall have been communicated as aforesaid,
give notice in writing to the Commissioners of Customs,
or to their solicitor, that he refuses to abide by such
order, in which case the Commissioners of Customs may
direct such proceedings thereon as they may see fit, or
the party against whom such order shall have been made
shall have the same remedy by action in the county
i courts or small debts court of the city of London.
5. That clauses 103 and 104 require ainendnjent, by
omission of all words rendering the importer or owner
liable for duties upon deficiencies.
6. That the following specific clause should he
in-
serted :—That upon the delivery of the goods, br
porter,
all laty in respectter,owirbieilri,and warehouse-beeper
arell otubseer-ekeefe. per shall be relieved
from
committee
there
It was also further resolved that the
quest Mr. Mitchell, when the bill i
g i
house, to put questions to the Chancellor
Exche-
quer, so that the subject may e
of thegross revenue
brought o
ugfh again before
tt distinctlyhe
beforein tn
the
teh
Exchequer,
übl ic, asta on
dt e
the x-p
payment
examination of offices.
That these changes
to the commercial class as an Customs re.
would
instalment render theacceptable
to
n billf
form. That without them cannot but fail of ita
intent, and does not merit the cordial support of the
commercial community,

11. L. MORGAN, lion. Sec.

Ma. REIMER'S ANATOMICAL MUSEUM, SAVILLE-ROUSE,
LEICESTER-SQUARE.—This most valuable and extensive
evhibition of anatomical figures and preparations are
now on view at the above locale. The illustrations of
embryology arc on the most comprehensive scale, and
cannot fail to interest those who wish to know how
"fearfully and wonderfully" we are made. The anato•
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cuted, anti display all the functions of the human frame
in the most clear and intelligible manner. The sectional
views of the various parts of the body are equally well
executed. The exhibition is one of a highly important
and instructive nature, and deserves to be carefully
studied for the valuable lessons it is calculated to im-
part. Whether professional or not, the pathological
treasures here displayed will well repay a visit. It is a
splendid scientific collection, and a great deal of general
information is to be obtained from viewing it.