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

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 Government would therefore pro-
pose that when the importer should part with his goods
they might be re-entered in the name of the purchaser,
and weighed or gauged, and the original importer should
be no longer liable for the duty except on any deficiency
during the time the goods had been his, any such small
amount of duty to be paid at once. (Hear.) Further, the
Custom-house was to be obliged to take complete stock
every five years. (Hear, hear.) It would not be an entire
stock-taking of all goods in warehouse at one time, but it
would be going on from day to day, and every day, be-
cause it would be taking stock of all the goods which on
that day 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 hd
iwmbhepaoat r
trwae at-
esi
onantl r
y.l o
7efrdo
Thismb ywtdli
would
d
Upon such stock-taking, the duty upon any deficiency be-
wt
poortuoivlmeli
cei
e,b eaa paid,sgaiifn stt haetnrhede 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. [Mr. Mitchell—
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. [Mr. Mitchell—
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 Antwerp, and 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
tiercessg
a large quantity of tobacco. The owner never appeared ; if
bleeldeatorepdietcheesT
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
were 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 § 9teillufbt:r 513.0s3ti.witAh
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 dutyanodne
allsei
zreodu roundwas
s tnuoffleetsl s i
ftilVeeeotigwthdeso,
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,
math; 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'vdeiTheserious nature to which
it was necessary to advert, suer had at-
tracted a great deal of notice,n
as it wmaosrae casosaesinit 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 some
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 ; she expressed contrition
av ingpbueteini engagedc
sale.
Thein foreman this c crime.
ofm em. a
a.Tehhea
ngdo
cameods waenr
de
iput up to
examined them ; Marchand did so himself ; but several
months after, when the case had been compromised for
2501., paid for Payne by this very man, he came with a pe-
tition praying to have his
he was out of danger, till t
ghoeo de
as
sree
had
ebde.e n He
oemspt ar
oy m d s
et
till!
The commissioners said they could not do anything. He
pbyetitthieonheodnt.hgeenTjleeamsaunryo.ppoTshieteca. case wscarebfulecalymeexkanmoiNnvedn,
Thea 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 free 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
vnllsdisiomnp)leholpeancgiuvaegrey,
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 than in the 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 tons ; in 1850
it was 435,000 tons. In 1817, at Newcastle, the tonnage
was 264,030 tons; in 1850 it was 1,165,000 tons. In 1817,
at Southampton, the tonnage was 43,030 tons; in 1850 it
was 299,000 tons ; and at Bristol the tonnage in 1817 was
108,851 tons, and in 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
tafoemlntiasnt they
arrangement
evend noti ab
ajyu.s tlehcel ienoin postponingmCommissioners
such an
tou peoxnt extend
casesth e existingnot .
larv°iaf:leuriobNoevleitntohaoittlihiu7qiijuse°airling 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
icaneuetLdhioonnrgidtyOlyi nootahtle. 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
(rovealinomeLnitverweoroel
now induced
that that town was becon.lne.
because it could not be deniedm
of this country. He Lad
from ras
erass the
the great commercial emporium
now gone through the whole or the recommendations of the
the
Ellni
be
Lad
enx'teenntdiontehli.s aTdhva°ntGa've p.
in regard to the Customs. There was one small
ounrsc
ehtqahisiaect(
n 1
matter • the Government meant to make a change of
committeeiipon
which the committee
Itiley
t
upon, which
considerable importance. He alluded to the Isle of Man.
lee
shouldllno nou report,
eeePoe fgluA.ntuthbltuoesol
l
the Customs duties there was much lower than in this
f
facilities being afforded for smuggling. To obviate those
(cAloVi
ffiuhuce
country;
difficulties
ytt that island s lifiwa 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 the Lieutenant-Governorncreased. After
of the island, the
Commissioners of Customs had
to the conclusion
that it would be wise to entirely
aclnliesh
sys-
tem, raise the rates of duty,
and
permittli•?
importationsginlicen to
any extent whatever. He could not conclude his observa-
tions without referring, very shortly, to the great blame
which had been 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 1,268,0001.,
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
statement, and
ase
officers. The object ho had in making
thisss
that the meat-
ofl eying these papers before the house,
house and the
bd
est possible facility should be given 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