The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-10 00:00:00

CUSTOMS ACTS.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved
that the house at its rising do adjourn to Monday. He
said—ln doing so, I will take the opportunity of answer-
ing a question put to me by a noble lord opposite, and also
make a short explanation of some resolutions I am about
to lay on the table of the house. The question of the
noble lord was whether I considered the profits of
tenant farmers have been largely increased during the last
four years, because the returns to the income tax under

schedule B have increased daring that period., It is a

mere matter of opinion, on which no argument can be
founded. lam perfectly aware that the immediate test of
the payments under schedule B is the actual rent. But
the farmer has the means of proving before the Income-tax
Commissioners that his profits are ust equal to the charge
on him, calculated on the rent, and may obtain a i elief frona
a portion of the charge. But I am sure the farmers have
not found it to their interest generally to decline the fixed
standard of rent, and go on the standard of profit. I think
the whole country believes that the farmers' profits during
recent years have been considerably greater than they were
during a long previous period. (Hear.) The resolutions
I have to propose are of importance to the whole commer-
cial community. They are the 11th, 12th, and 13th on the
paper, and Ist and 2d in the resolutions of the Committee of
Ways and Means. The Ist of these, the 11th, refers to the
registration dues to be charged, with some modifications
and adjustments on exports and imports. I will lay the
resolutions on the tale forthwith, in the form in which the
Government intends to submit them to the sanction of the
house, and describe very shortly what will be their effect.
The goods are to be considered in the classification under
which they fall in the course of business, and according to
the methods in which they are handled for the purpose of
the public accounts. The goods imported into this country
are divided into two classes—those liable to the payment of
duty and those that are free. The aeeond class I hope will
henceforth be the largest of the two. So far as goods liable
to duty on importation are concerned, inasmuch as the collec-
tion of the duty requires the operation of registration, we do
not propose to levy on those goods any additional charge
whatever. With respect, however, to goods which come
into this country free of duty, and in respect to which the
Customs' establishment is neceessarilypat to a great amount
of labour, we propose to charge ld. on each unit of entry, but
with such modifications as will have for their general abject
to prevent that charge from exceeding in any case the ordi-
nary ad valorem rate of one-quarter per cent. With regard
to the goods exported from this country, and of which there
are four important classes, we intend to submit to the house
the following arrangements for its approval :—The first of
the classes to which I allude is that which is embraced trader
the head of trans-shipments. A very large trade is carried
on in this country in the case of goods which are never
landed, but of which account is taken by the Customs' De-
partment, and.with respect to which a considerable amount
of labour is incurred. It would, however, in my opinion,
be extremely
inexpedient to charge
on those goods such an
amount as would impede the course of trade or which
m
would be regarded as in any way burdensome. n the case
-s
therefore of goods which are simply trans lie.
in trans-shipped we pro-
pose that they should be charged at the rate of lsoxthe
value for each £lOO worth. In reference to foreign. goo de
exported from this country out of warehouse—that is tog say,
which would have been liable to duty if delivered for con
sumption here, and in respect of which the Customs, if
they had been delivered for consumption, would have been
re-imbursed for their labour by receiving the required duty
—it is our intention to levy on the whole of that class of
goods a charge of Id., fixed on the weight in the care) of
solids, and on the measure in the case of liquids, according
to the tariff, which will be very simple, inasmuch as the
whole of tho goods warehoused in this country will be re-
duced to nine or ten articles. Solid goods, then, will in
general be charged on every 100 lb. weight at the rate of
Id., in one or two cases at the rate of ld. on every 501 b.,
and in the case of wine and spirits at the rat© of id, on

every five gallons. There is another class of goods, which
being foreign in their origin, but coming into this country
without any payment of duty, are exported aft r having
undergone here some particular sort of operation. 'I hose free
imports which have not gene into warehouse, ba have been
landed, and subsequently sent abroad, we cons er to belong
to the same class as British goods when e- orted. It is
necessary to take with respect to them an a ' urate account,
and therefore we propose to class them along with British
goods when exported. Now, in the case of that particu-
lar description of exports, it is evident that the simplest as
well as the most accurate mode of proceeding is to charge
a small fee according to their value, and which shall have
no reference to the number of articles exported.
The reason why I look upon value as the best
standard to take in this instance is that the value
of the goods is invariably set forth in the document which
it is necessary should be presented before any goods can be
exported, and that the imposition of a small charge will give
the means of effecting improvements which, as I shall on

some future occasion be able to show the house, are much
needed in order to procure an accurate and satisfactory
account of the exports of the country. There will, there-
fore, be three modes of charge—one of Id. on free imports ;

another of Id. on foreign goods out of warehouse ; a third,
a charge of per cent. ad valorem on British goods when ex-
ported, and on foreign goods exported free of duty and never
having paid any. [Sir S. Northcote—What will be the rate
fixed upon those goods on which drawbacks have been
paid ?] They de net require any separate arrangement.
Goods trans-shipped will be charged at the rate of ls. on
the value, and corn and timber, which are liable to a low
duty on importation, but which, nevertheless, do not go
into warehouse at all, we propose shall be subjected neither
to registration dues on importation nor to any charge when
re-exported (Hear.) It will be found by the resolutions
which I shall lay on the table for the purpose of carrying
into effect the proposals of the Government with regard to
registration dues that such an adjustment has been made as
to secure the sum of nearly £300,000, upon which my cal-

culations were based. The next resolution is that which
relates to the removal of goods in warehouse. Objection
may very fairly be taken to that resolution in. the form in
which it was originally presented to the house, both on the
ground that the charge which it fixed was too high, and

that it would operate with undue weight in those instances
in which successive removals of goods might take place,
Thetotal amount which we hope to receive from the charge
on removal is not large, and were it only a mere question of
finance which was involved in the matter, we might have
abandoned the £50,000 or £60,000 a year which we hope to
derive from this charge. There is, however, another con-
sideration connected with this impost, to which some
degree of importanceis to be attached. It is only by means
of a charge on removal that we can establish a self-acting
registration in those towns of secondary importance to the
revenue, the expense attendant upon keeping up a separate
staff in which would by no means reimburse the State for
the outlay which it would be necessary to incur. We there-
fore propose to continue the charge on removal, making a
reduction in the amount, so that in future it shall be a uni-
form charge of ld. on each £1 of duty to which the articles
subject to_ it may be liable. I may add that in the case of
tobacco we propose that the charge shall be id. It is also our
intention that the charge for removal shall be levied along
with the charge for duty, and that it shall be levied only
once on any description of goods, and that it shall be paid
by the purchaser of the goods, inasmuch as by that means
it will be levied over the whole of the community, and
will not fall exclusively upon the dealer in bonded goods.
There is also another charge which I propose to make,
which, I trust, will add something to the revenue of the
country, but which I adopt not so much on that account as
because I deem it absolutely necessary to remedy a glaring
anomaly in the case of removals which at present exists,
but which would be ten times more glaring in consequence
of the alteration in the duties of wine, tending to produce a
considerable increase in that article, which the house has
deemed it right to sanction. In accordace with the present
law, while every man who deals in wine pays a duty and is
liable to be called upon to take out a 10-guinea license, it is
open to any person who may think fit to do so to deal in
wine which has not paid duty, bonded in warehouse, with-
out taking out any license whatsoever. It would, therefore,
in my opinion, be most unjust to-the general dealer in wine
to permit this exemption any longer to exist, especially
under the altered circumstances of the trade which we ex-
pect will take place. We therefore propose that all persons
dealing in bonded wine or spirits in a less quantity than 90
gallons shall be liable to be called upon to take cut a 10-
guinea license. Many persons are desirous that on all classes
dealing in bonded goods a certain charge should be laid,
but I am of opinion that such a course could not be taken
without subjecting the public to much vexation, and
that its operation would be attended with a great
deal of difficulty. (Hear, hear.) With respect
to the third resolution—namely, that which re-
lates to operations in warehouses—l have to state to the
house that the principle on which the resolution proceeds is
to reduce the rate of charge, which is undoubtedly higher
than is necessary, and to define more equitably and more
particularly the particular cases to which that rate of charge
should be applicable. These three resolutions will haVe to
be considered in the committee on the Customs' Acts, and,
taken together with the hop duties, I believe they are the
only three which remain to be thus considered. Now, there
is one proposal which I wish to make for the purpose of re-
moving anomalies, and it is but a duty of ls. per ton on
foreign shipbuilding wood. I make that proposal with the
view of equalizing the position of the builders of foreign
ships which come into this country for registration and the
builders of ships here who are called upon to pay a low
duty on the material of which the ships are made. These,
then, are the resolutions which are to be proposed in com-
mittee ou the Customs' duties. There are, however, others
with respect to which much discussion is likely to take
place—l allude to those relating to dock-warrants and to
contract notes. These I cannot lay upon the table in an
amended form to-night, but I can state to the committee
the substantial end to which they will be directed. They
bear upon four classes of subjects, which are entirely distinct
from one another. The first is notes issued by dealers in
stocks, shares, and securities, and the proposal to impose a
Id. stamp on those notes has been, I think, in principle ge-
nerally approved. I shall propose a resolution for the pur-
pose, in order to prevent its bearinghardly and inconviently
on some classes of transactions, particularly those connected
with certain charities, that there shall be an exemption of
all transactions where the value of the stock, share, or secu-
rity to which they refer shall not exceed £2O. That disposes
of contract notes furnished by brokers, dealers, or middle men.
The second class are dock warrants, which are intended to
serve as distinct and independent evidence of the existence
of certain goods; and that evidence is supplied not by the
owner or vendor of the goods, but by an independent
person, namely, the owner of the warehouse or wharf
in which the goods aro deposited, whether he be an indi-
vidual or a company. When the document that thus traces
the existence of the goods has acquired such independent
evidence it becomes a security capable of being deposited
and being the basis of an advance of money. In that cha-
racter I propose that all dock warrants se defined, whether
issued by companies or individuals, shall, as negotiable in-
struments, be charged with a stamp of 3d. The remaining
question relates to two other subjects—namely, delivery or-
ders and contract notes, or notes of purchase and sale of
profits. On examining this question lam bound to admit
that if we do lay ld. of charge on delivery orders and con-
tract notes the effect in general would be to lay a double tax
on some transactions, and likewise, I must admit it, so far
as contract notes are concerned, it would be extremely diffi-
cult to find an adequate legal definition which would make
them liable to charge, and at the same time include a
great many documents it is not intended to include, and
which it would be hardly fair to include, such as, for exam-
ple, all tenders to execute orders or undertake contracts on
certain terms—sale notes that are furnished in the corn-
trade, and which are absolutely subject to refusal, and may
become altogether void. These are documents which it
would be very inadvisable to include, and under these cir •
t
aanhcaerse,sh, aavnidu gs
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them, and to apply the ld. charge to other contract notes.
On the other hand I propose to place Id. charge on all deli-
very orders, with the exception of such orders as relate to
goods under the value of 40s. That will be the effect of the
resolutions as they will be submitted to the house for their
definitive judgment. I don't now enter into the considera
tion of the particular clauses, but I thought it was desirable
that I should at the earliest moment make known the inten-
tions of the Government on these subjects, which to a con •
siderable degree hang together. And now, thanking the
house for permitting me to make this explanation, I beg
leave to lay on the table the fourresolutions to which I have
referred, and which will be considered in committee on the
Custom Acts. (Hear, hoar.)
HARBOURS OF REFUGE.
Mr. LIND SAYasked the President of the Board of Trade
when the Government intendedtoinotrfodthnece
Harboursmeasures
f
'carry into effect the recommendations
Refuge Commission. It would be remembered that a com-
mittee of that house was appointed to inqhire into the sub-
ject of harbours of refuge, and that they arrived at the con-
clusion that on nationrl, as well as commercial grounds, it
wasmost desirable that harbours should be constructed, and
they strongly recommended Parliament to do so at as early
a period as posrible. Subsequently a Royal Commission
was appointed on the same subject, on which he (Mr. Lind-
say) and that commission came unanimously to the same
conclusion as to the importance and urgency of these har-
bours, after devoting five months to the inquiry. They
strongly recommended their erection in the month of August
last, and he wished to know what the Government intended
to do with the report of that commission.
Sir F. SMITH, as a member of the commission, was
anxious to urge upon the Government the importance of
carrying out its recommendations with the least possible
delay. Tho estimated cost of these harbours was £2,000,000,
which they proposed to spread over ten years, so that alto-
gether the expenditure would not exceed £200,000 a • year.
When they remembered that at present 850 sailors were
lost every year, and one million and a half of property, he
thought the urgency of the case was so obvious as to require
no comment. The whole of the eastern seaboard was at
present quite unprotected, and the small vessels engaged in
the coasting trade were exposed to great and constant dan-
ger without any chance of safety.
Sir J. ELPHINSTONE wished to urge upon the Go-
vernment the necessity for taking immediate steps to carry
out
the recommendations of the commission. The loss
fbae ge. prevented.witethbye-r
of life and property was enormous, and much of it could
tection to life and papert
athveerayuetsritifloninwg
aosutrleagyardonedhaars oneborsofofprroe--
y, or as one of national defence,
the matter was equally urgent and, important, The ,