The Sun.
London, England, 1821-03-23 00:00:00

Is tbs t ths only difficulty that occurs to you P I see no other.
Would it not require the measuring of a great propottion of the deals, owing
to the difference of the lengths in which they come at present? The principal
part of them must be measured; but in time it would become such a system, that
they would bring them in a more uniform manner than they do at present, and
the necessity for measuring them would be less;, in the first instance it would be
attended with greater difficulty than it would afterwards.
What additional number of officers would such an alteration require ? Ido not
suppose many ; there is but one boat officer (the delivering officer on the river);
there were originally two. It has been found expedient to discontinue one of
them, from the great number of ships that have gone into the docks to deliver ;
at would require at least another boat officer. His salary would be, if one of the
juniors, 4001. ayear ; if senior, 5001.
Would any difficulty attend a change in the scale by which the duties on deals
are taken, if it was thought expedient to introduce one which would contain a
greater number of gradations than mists at present? That would depend, in a
great measure, upon the extent of gradations; if they were very numerous, they
isroold be equally.difficult with the cubical measure.
Do you think, from what you know of the timber trade, that any advantage
would be derived frosts any alterations in the existing mcde of taking the duty
which you can state ? lam hot aware of any change that would be advantageous
to the revenue. •
Are you of opinion, that were the duty on deals to be paid by the cubic contents,
not only- difficulty would attend ascertaining it, but it would lead to a greater risk
Hof frauds being committed on the revenue ? lam not aware that it would, if
tinder proper regulations, but it would be more expensive.
You have elated that there would be considerable difficulty in cases where ships
discharged their cargoes in the river ? In all such cases.
Are not all the deals now landed in bonded premises for the security of the
<duties ? All bonded deals are landed and those in docks by hand : in that situation
/ consider it is perfectly practicable without any risk, and without any increase of
expence; but on the river I doubt it.
Are any deals landed in the river that are subject to duty at all, or where any
examine-rerun of their contents is necessary ? They are not landed in the river ;
they are delivered into craft frcm on board the vessel lying in the stream, where
they ore surveyed by the proper officer afloat; they are finally delivered and put
into the charge of the merchant to take them where he pleases.
By the present system all which is to do is to count the deals, whereas under
-such an arrangement,as that proposed to you, they must be measured? Yes;
deals are not put alone into a craft, but a variety of other articles, so that there is
a very close inspection now.
The only measurement you now have is, whether they exceed eight feet and are
below twenty ? Yes, that is done by the eye generally.
Are you not in the habit occasionally of landing cargoes of deal ends ? I never
saw a cargo entirely of deal ends.
Has not the importation of deal ends increased of late years ? I cannot say
within the last four or five years ; previous to that time there was not an unusual
importation of them.
They were considered as broken stowage ? - They generally were ; I have not
been on the river for the last four or five years. ~
[Adjourned to to-morrow, one o'clock. '
ilfcreurii, 23 die Fetruarii, 1821.
The Right Honourable THOMAS WALLACE, in the Chair.
Mr. John Henry Pelly called in, and examined.
You are a merchant in the trade with Norway, resident in London ? I am.
What time have you been in this trade? About five or six years ; the house
in which 1 am engaged has been established for a great number of years.
Is it a house that carries on business to a great extent ? It did, to a large
extent.
Can you state what has been the effect of the imposition of the high duties im-
posed in 1809 and 1810 upon the Norway trade? The imposition of those duties
has almost excluded Norway from the market ; now that a peace is come, it will
certainly do so.
State in what way ? There is only one port, Christiana, from which we have
imported deals this last year; all the other ports, :Hess, D:am, Longsound, ar.d
Christiansard, from their deals being inferior, are excluded, and timber completely
so. The duty presses particularly on Norway deals and timber, partly on the
account that Norway cannot produce either of large size or lengths, and the duty
being the same on 8 feet 8 inches wide, as on 20 feet 11 inches wide; and partly
from -the very high duty which affects Norway more than the ether northern
countries ; and from wood from Canada, which is allowed to be imported duty
free, interfering mole with Norway than with any other country. To elucidate
nay Observation, that Norway is particularly affected by an increase of duty, I beg
to refer the committee to Mr. Norman's evidence before the House of Lords, in
Iris statement of the number of deals imported by him, and the duty paid when it
was IL 13s. 4d. per hundred :
C. Duty.
Average quantity imported per annum, )
. 10,777 . . .417,992.
from 1793 to 1796, both inclusive . I '
The duty *as then increased to 4L 9s. per hundred :
Average quantity then imported from
• . . .
1793 to 179 G, was reduced to . . 4,837 21,525.
Not more than 20 per cent. increase of revenue, although the new duty was 170
per cer.t. on the old. This may fairly be taken as the criterion of the whole trade,
our own books shewing a similar result. ,
-In /797, the duty was increased to 91. Is. In 1811 it was doubled, and be-
came 181. 2s. The Appendix, No. 6, showing the quantity of timber and deals
imported from all the northern ports, as well as Canada, furnishes me with a
statement in corroboration of the opinion I have expressed.
Quantity of TIMBER and DEALS annually imported into Great Britain.
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By this it will appear, that on the doubling of the duty in 1811 the average i
portation of timber from Norway and Prussia decreased nearly half, whilst fr
Sweden and Russia it rather increased ; but in the article of deals, the diminut
from Norway is immense, whilst Sweden, Russia, and Prussia, taken together, i
port nearly the same as before the advance of duty; Sweden rather less, Rui
rather more : Lut Norway, from C. 24,961, the average annual importation of