The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-22 00:00:00

June.. In the communications beyond Bombay it,i3
clear that much yet remains to be done by the use of
steam navigation, not only as regards China, but the
instance
of of our Eastern possessions. In the
of China the urgency of the case, and the general
desire of the ,merchants, will no doubt lead the at-
tmtion of the Government immediately to the sub-
ject. If steam-vessels cannot be found for the ser-
vice, fast sailing vessels might in the mean time be
selected, allowing a proper time for the voyage, the
main object being to bring the communication with
China as nearly as possible to the same regularity as
that with India.

POST.—The new rule with regard to 'Change
hours was very generally observed to-day. The mer-
chants and brokers came early, and left almost alto-
gether as the clock struck fuur.
It is satisfactory to find that the Lords of the Trea-
sury have came to the determination of examining
into the alleged Custom-house frauds, and it is to be
hoped that the investigation will be conducted on an
extensive scale, or, in other words, that the system
will undergo a complete revision, with a view to the
ascertaining whether it be adequate or not to the pro-
tection of the revenue—the first and most vital prin-
ciple of the department. It is not intended here to
adopt the prevailing practice of finding indiscriminate
fault with the superior officers of the Customs, most
of whom are honourable, conscientious men, and
persons who are desirous of doing
.their duty in a
faithful manner between the Crown and the public;
but a doubt may be fairly expressed whether their
vigilance has kept pace with the various alterations,
both in the export and import business, by steam-
vessels, and with the hurried and late deliveries of
goods consequent upon the various hours they arrive
and depart, coupled with the great increase of inge-
nuity and the commanding wealth of those who make
a trade of defrauding the revenue.
The Commissioners of the Customs are selected by
the Crown from a class of men highly respectable in
society, and very. generally of average talent, but
they are not selected for any talent or experience in
connexion with the department of the Customs. They
are engrafted from time to time upon the Customs,
but, like the ornamental branches of an argand lamp,
they derive their light from the stem, contributing no
fresh power to it. Their subordinates become their
practical schoolmasters, the old Acts of Parliament
and the records of the usage of the office their only
study, and there is no predisposition on the part of
any of the higher officers to doubt the well working
of their own system, or to institute a jealous inquiry
whether frauds be committed under it ; and this arises
from natural causes ; for, with the publicity of frauds
censure comes, to a certain extent upon the Customs'
regulations. Trouble and vexation follow, and an
annual report, containing the fewest discoveries of
frauds, is the one most desired by the Board of
Customs.

This may he illustrated by a conversation that is
reported to have taken place at the Horse Guards
upon the comparative discipline of two regiments.
The Commander-in-Chief is stated to have referred
the Colonel to the orderly book of another, wherein
scarcely a breach of duty or punishment was recorded
whilst his contained many cases. The answer given
by the Colonel' was, " I use constant vigilance; and.
prevent the growth of disorder by discovering it when
it first appears ; but if your Lordship requires a clean
orderly book I will keep my eyes shut in future."
Something like this feeling will always prevent
the Customs reforming the Customs, and it has
long been felt a somewhat useless task to make
representations at the Treasury, because they are
always referred back to the. Board of Customs. An
exception occurred a few months since. A gentle-
man, who had retired from the tea trade, and had
leisure to reflect that cheating the revenue caused
an increase of taxation, wrote to the Chancellor of
the,Exchequer to inform him of a laxity in some of
the departments, and that he had reason to know that
frauds had been, and no doubt were continued. The
Chancellor politely referred him to the Board of Cus •
toms, but he declined to communicate with it, alleg-
ing that experience told him that the Board lent an
unwilling ear to any communication which informed
them that their orders and regulations were evaded.
The result was that the Chancellor gave the gentle-
man several audiences on the subject.
The want of a well-organised detective force is
manifest in the department of the Customs, and the
want of encouragement from the higher powers is
now complained of when officers do discover a fraud.
It is therefore hoped that the inquiry will, if possible,
admit of evidence being received, where practical men
may be attended to who single out the vulnerable
points, and not be required to turn informers, which
is now the case when a useful hint is given to prevent
the fraudulent dealer from cheating the revenue and
ruining the honest trader who is in the same line of
business.
CHRONICLE.—The national securities still exhi-
bit great firmness, with an indication to a further rise.
The immediate cause of this buoyancy is the abund-
ance of money and the absence of demand for com-
mercial investment. Some symptoms of a revival of
the home trade have been. noticed lately, in conse-
quence of the timber duties having come into opera •
tion, and the appearance of country buyers in the
produce markets. But with these exceptions, torpidity
still hangs over trade and manufactures, which forces
the moneyed interests to seek employment for capftal
in the public funds, owing to the extremely low rate
of interest offered on commercial paper, and thus the
price of Consols forms a very uncertain and false cri-
terion of the real state of the country. Public:credit
is not only maintained, btit however paradoaical it
may appear, •is actually forced and pampered by the
low condition of individual credit. This :5 the key to
the constant rise which we have daily to record in
the price of the British funds, and, as a truth of the
statement, we have to notice this day that the price
for money is equal to that for time,. Consols, both for
immediate transfer and the account,being now quoted
93 to
SUN.—The improvement in Consols is found to have
arisen from a purchase by a leading broker, who had
previously been taking the Reduced Annuities. The
closing quotation was 934 for Money, and 93i for
the Account. Exchequer Bills touched 58 prem. this
afternoon ; and Reduced Three-and-a-Half per Cents.
100-7 s. No bargains in India Stock.
The operations in the Foreign Market since our
morning's report, have been extended to Venezuelan
at 27i to 28 ; Mexican at 32* for Money ; the con-
verted Portuguese at a decline to 33* ; the Three per
Cents., for present transfer, at 23+ to 23k; and Dutch
Two-and-a-Half per Cents., at 52k.
In Shares the sales have been, in Great Western
Railway at 18 ; in the Birmingham Quarters at 22* ;
in the Brighton Loan Notes at 4- ; in the South
Western, 16*; and in the York and North MI land,
at 40 prom.; Brighton closed at 13/ ; Blackwell, at
11*; Birmingham and Derby at 58 ; and Northern
and Eastern at 9 dis. London Joint-Stock Bank
Shares were 3 prem.
Accounts received this afternoon from Athens, via
Germany, state that the progressive Greek ariff
could not be carried out, and that the Government
had been compelled to nominate a Commission, with
a view to its modification. This is crash the first
among the prohibiting Tariff States!
The advance in the Foreign Exchanges noticed on
last post-day was not quite supported this afternoon,
hills being in less request. The nearest rates were these:
Paris 251. 87*f. to 92*f. ; Hamburgh, 13 114 to 12 ;
Amsterdam; 12 6 to 12 6}; Frankfort, 151*;
Antwerp, 12 5 to 12 51; and Trieste, 9 59 to 10.
COURSE OF EXCHANGE—(YESTERDAY.I
Amsterdam CF. 12 96'Gibraltar .
Ditto, at sight ...... 12 6i 'Leghorn ........
Rotterdam ...•2 U. 12 10 iGenoa , 26 10
Antwerp l2 81i'Alilan
Hambtirsh III.B. 13 15i Venice 47
Altona
Paris, 3 days' sight ... 25 75 Palermo, per oz 120
Ditto, 3 months .t.,6 0 Lisbon
Marseilles
Bourdeaux 26 5 Rio Janeiro 23i
Frankfort on Maine ...152 Bahia
Petersburgh, 3 Us. ... 37 Buenos Ayres ......
_ 7
,New York, 21 days eight .16&