The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-08 00:00:00

SHANGHAI CUSTOMS' DUTIES.

The question of the payment of Customs' duties at
Shanghai during the present disturbed state of China
has just been settled, as far as British exporters are con-
cerned, by the following communication from the Foreign-
office. In September last the merchants at Shanghai
found the Imperial Government unable to exercise effi-
cient authority at that place, and requested the Governor-
of Hong Kong to insist that the payment of duties should
be deferred until either the Imperialists or insurgents
had established a more decided position. This request
was refused at the time, upon proper grounds, although
to the sacrifice of our own momentary interests, and at a
later period, 'when the difficulties had increased, and
there was actually no officer to whom payments could be
made, the British and American Consols notified to their
respective countrymen that they would be required to
hand over to them (the Consuls) promissory notes far the
amounts due, the intention, as subsequently stated by
the Board of Trade in London, being to band them over
to the Imperialists, if they should recover their power,
or to the insurgents, if they should succeed in establish-
ing a permanent authority. It was intimated, however,
that this course would depend upon the ships of all
foreign nations being kept by the Chinese on the same
footing, since W would have been a great injustice
to English and American merchants to be obliged
to pay duties on goods which had been exported or im-
ported by other vessels duty free. The discrepancy
thus provided against having subsequently taken place,
and the Imperial troops at Shanghai having moreover
outraged the rights and safety of the foreign residents,
so as to, bring about a collision, the English Government
have now adopted the resolution of cancelling the pro-
missory notes in question. The port of Shanghai may
therefore be regarded as at present free from all Customs'
duties, and, as the duty on the export of tea was equal
to more than three-halfpence per pound, while on im-
ported goods the range was from 12 to 28 per cent. ad
valor cm, this state of affairs must have an important and
favourable effect upon our trade :

" "Foreign-office, July 4.
Sir,—With reference to the correspondence which has
passed between you and this office respecting the securities
taken by her Majesty's Consuls at Shanghai for duties
which, in consequence of the state of affairs at that post,
the Chinese authorities were themselves unable to collect,
I am directed by the Earl of Clarendon to acquaint you
that, after communication with Sir George Bonham, and
upon a full consideration of the question in all its bear-
ings, her Majesty's Government have decided that those
securities shall be cancelled and returned to the parties by
whom they were given, and instructions to that effect will
be sent by the next mail to her Majesty's Plenipotentiary
and Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China.
"I am, &c.,

"E. HAMMOND,
" S. Gregson, Esq., M.P., Chairman, East India
and China Association, London."

SCOTCH EXCHEQUER COURT.—June 26,

(Before Lord Murray and a Jury.)
HER MAJESTY'S ADVOCATE-GENERAL V. GRAHAM

The Lord Advocate, forIIENZIES the Crown, stated the case. This
was an information against Mr. Menzies, who is a distiller
at Saucel, Paisley, and also at Sunbury, near Edinburgh,
containing a variety of counts for alleged contraventions
of the Revenue laws; but it is not necessary in the state-
ment I am now to make to enter into the details of them,
except the 7th count. It charges, putting aside the
phraseology, in substance, that between the beginning of
January in 1853, and 28th October of that year, Mr.
Menzies, on 53 different days, took 41 bushels of malt,
amounting in the whole to 2,214 bushels, off the kiln
without having given 12 hours' notice in writing to the
officer of excise, and the penalties concluded for under this
count amount amount to 2,6501. There is also before you
au information for condemnation of the seizure, consisting
of malt, and horse and cart, by which the same was being
conveyed away. And I am to ask you to find for the
Crown upon 20 of the 53 contraventions stated
in the seventh count, and for condemnation of the seizure.
In this case an offer was made on the part of the defendant
which I thought it my duty to accept. I shall explain to
you the nature of the offence, and also the offer which was
made, and why I accepted it. The nature of the offence
in the 7th count charged, is this :—Mr. Menzies abstracted
malt from the kiln before the same was measured for the duty.
Malt for duty is measured or gauged on three separate occa-
sions; Ist, in the steep, when in a wet state; and 2d, in
the couch, when still moist ; and lastly, it is measured off
the kiln before it is removed. On all these three occa-
sions the officers of Excise gauge or measure the malt for
duty, and, of course, the one is a check on the other. And
by the clause of the statute, under which this count of the
information proceeds, it is the duty of the inaltster, before
rernovieg malt off the kiln, to give twelve hours' notice to
the officer to come and take the measurem ut before the
removal. The revenue officers had come to be suspicious
that at this distillery certain practices had been re-
sorted to which had the effect of not giving the full
measurement. They accordingly took means to watch,
and on one occasion the men in the service of
the defendant were detected in the very act of
taking a variety of bags of malt hot from the kiln—that
referred to in the seizure inform Ition—and consequently
you can have no hesitation in giving your verdict for the
condemnation. In short, on that occasion the servants of
Mr. Menzies were caught in the very act of perpetrating
the fraud. In consequence of this, a more minute investi-
gation of the results of the measurements of the defendant's
malt took place, and the result was, that the Revenue offi-
cers were satisfied that this was by no means a solitary in-
stance of fraud. And in the information, as laid, no less
than 53 occasions are stated when such frauds were perpe-
trated. It is not necessary for me to say more, as the de-
fendant has consented to a verdict, upon the 7th count of
the information, for penalties to the extent of 20 instances,
involving penalties of 1,0001., and for this sum I ask your
verdict. I have stated to you the nature of the offences,
and to what extent the defendant has acknowledged them.
I have therefore to ask you for your verdict on twenty
of the fifty-three contraventions in the seventh count
for 1,0001. penalties, and for condemnation of the seizure.
Lord Murray—After the very clear statement which
has been made to you on the part of the Lord Advocate,
and the admission on the part of the defendant, you Can
have no hesitation whatever in giving your verdict.
of
This is a remarkable instance of the vigilance the
part of
Crown officers in discovering such frauds on the
the defendant. It is highly proper towhpr
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E-R-v-i3FLI-Audit Office.— Mr. Montague
Hhaesarbieee,ndeacp
epaosiendt.e d
rn.i senior
eedx:
THE CIVIL -
Massenden Loathes, assistant examiner, has been
second class,
Markby, junior exami.vnieere,
appointed junior examiner,
•
daeminer,
vice Markby, promoted.
mi. Charles James Bloinfield has been appointed assis-
tant examiner, vice Edmonds, promoted. Messrs.
Frede
nted tempm ora rick Thoas Monro and John Dwyer have been
appoi ry clerks. Post Office.—A. vacancy
the
&is occignationurred in the
of M railway Ipost-office, consequent on
resr. W. E. Howson. There are a
number of vacancies in nearly
every department of the
General Post Office, which will not be filled up till the
report of the commission be issued. Customs —Mr. J.
L. Hawken, comptroller of the Customs at Padstow, has
been promoted to the collectorship at that port. Mr.
G. C. Williams has been appointed clerk at Cardiff.
Mr. W. Clarke has been appointed junior clerk to the
comptroller of accounts, St, Katharine Docks. A col-
lectorship of the Customs at Glasgow is vacant, vice F.
W. M. Vanderkiste, deceased. Haslar Hospital.—Mr.
George Leach Stephens has been appointed clerk in the
Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar.—Civil Service Gazette.
THE ESTATE OF MESSRS. DAVIDSON AND GORDON.—
At the Court of Bankruptcy yesterday the choice of
assignees was perfected under the estate of Messrs.
Davidson and Gordon, colonial brokers and metal
agents, who failed on the 22d of June. The difficulties
which have recently occurred in the branch of business
with which this house was connected are exciting much.
discussion, heavy losses having been sustained by various.
establishments in the City who have been led to make
advance on fictitious warrants. It is hoped that rig id
investigations in bankruptcy will throw full light on
the system pursued, so as to enable full measures to be
devised to Fount tin pokaibility of ita repetition.