The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-07-19

spices--es could not be producedin Bd,s,,
while the exports were lead, tin. vooi
hides, horses and cloths. Az rsvsn"s
was the chief object Of Roman augressiop
and oonqueat 1t is unlikely that madsna
commerce escaped exaotions, atthoneh
the rates of(duty imposed and the mod
OF collection praotised by the Romano An
Britain seem beyond discovery.
The absence Of any ~allusion TO so,sto,n.s
IN the records and legends Of the Heptarchx
may be due 10 the fact that during IA
earlier centuries after the invasion bvAnoIos
and Saxons there was little English ooms
merce. The southern ports, 90 thrfvtn,
under the Romans, apparently retained but
little OF their ancient trade, but what there
was LIS likely to have been subjected 10
slight port dues or occasional levies in
kind by maritime reeves. We know that
the maritime districts were assessed in
"shipgeld' for the repair and maintenance
OF war vessels. A message from Charlie
magne $500 A. d. to one Of the Saxon Kiprz
Is quoted In the records as conveying ass,Ir.
ance Of protection to English pilgrims visit
Ing Rome, but with the stipulation that
such as were merchants should pay the
usual customs upon their wares. 1t Il a
fair inference that the Saxon monarch
extorted a similar acknowledgment when
the Pilgrim traders returned. That in
somewhat later centuries English traders
were occasionally adventurous Is evident
from Athelstane's grant of thaneship to
every native merchant who had made thres
voyages to the Levant. As the inland ex-
actions levied by William the Norman
were immense and g~rievous, it is incon-
ceivable that maritime should
have escaped. There is reason to believe.
however. that up to the reign Of Henry /.
the amount OF silver available was 60 small
hat most OF the taxes were collected in
kind. From the accession of Henry l.,
however, to h FORMULATION Of MAGMA
Charta, most Of the royal impositions were
payable In COIN. The maritime exactions
at this epoch may be distin guished as pris-
age, the maltolte and ancient custom.
By prisage must be understood the appro-
priation OF a portion OF merchandise at or
before landing or shipment. In the port OF
London the goods we're usually taken by
the Chamberlain, ostensibly for the use OF
the Kings household. The maltolte was
an occasional heavy AK In ooin upon mer-
chandise and was reinforced at the larger
ports by customers or collectors. The
ancient custom was a syste-
matio tax In coin on exported wool, WOOL
fells and leather. There is reason to think
that the act OF Edward I. u275) dealing with
this subject merely ratified a long standing
tax. The collection Of the custom on wool
was for some time entrusted to the Luoca
from whom, as from other
Italians, Edward I. and his successors bor-
rowed a good deal Of money.
. In 1908 the Italian guilds controlled the
entire customs revenue Of England. It is
practically certain that the net customs
evenue of England up to the end Of Eliza
beth's reign rarely approached f1oO.Ooo
4 year, though Of course the compare
lively great value OF money in media
val times must be taken into account. In
1880. on the other hand, the net yield OF the
In the port Of London was about
eS55 900 and that Of all the other English
ports about E137. 900. From 1850 to l7se,
nclusive. the average annual net produce
81 the English customs was about "a, 1880
The cost Of collection was about az per
cent. OF the gross receipts. The proportion
IF the gross yield OF the Scottish to that OF
he English customs was In 17ee as 1 to %.
The returns Of Irish revenue are vague and
'ull OF contradictions. On the whole. how
,ver, the income derived from this source
'eems to have swelled gradually from
el50, 900 In 1888 to fl. 500. 600 in 1901.
In an appendix entitled Customs Lterat'
re set forth the data relating to the oou-
,ection of Chaucer. John Dennis, William
Jongreve and Adam Smith with the GUS
oms service. Chaucer's total income,
drawn from offices in the Lon
Ion custom house, is computed to have
mounted at n time to about $50 marks,
n. cay, 81. 5ooin modern money. Congrsve
n Of the five under searchers in the
'ort OF London and held another Office in
customs, both Of which seem to have
'een practically slnecures. In 1705 John
)ennis was appointed Queens waiter in
he port Of London, but in 17l5 he sold this
in the customs. Adam Smith, the
uthor Of the Wealth Of Nations and OF
he Theory OF Moral Sentiments had
zen since 1851 professor of logic end moral
at Glasgow University. but in
IT'S he was made a Scottish commissions
4 customs. with q salary which certainly
vas not less than $500