mer, the chances are that the Board will seize his goods, and fine him to the extent at least of the costs of importation.

If, upon the other

hand, he frames his valuation with the terror of the Board of Customs before his eyes, then he is compelled to place such a duty upon his goods as may materially affect their sale when they come to be offered in the market."

The length of the documents quoted in the next case, induces us again to have recourse to the abstract of a contemporary—

IX. An importer had been permitted to pass his entries for many weeks at his own valuation. The officers' wives, about the season of the spring fashions, probably having a mind to refit their stock of hosiery, perhaps prompted their pliant spouses to seize on speculation three cases of stockings and other under clothing, which might serve the double purpose of procuring for them, in retail, goods at wholesale prices, and out of the profits of the seizure, enough to pay for their gowns into the bargain. The importer abandoned two of the cases, but prayed to amend his entry on the third, not because he had any doubt of the perfect honesty of his entry, but because he had sold the goods in anticipation to a customer who insisted on delivery. Unversed in the Horatian philosophy which advices mankind to "wonder at nothing," even the importer was surprised to find his request refused, in the usual bashaw style of simple rejection. A little probing of the gangrene convinced him that this was only a little "sweet, reluctant, amorous delay." Having foolishly betrayed the secret of his necessities, it was seen that he could not help himself, and might prove a good milch cow, not likely to kick over the pail, on a laudable experiment to have a pull at his exchequer. It was whispered in his ear, that if he would amend his entry of the two residuary cases, and thus justify a fine of £4 upon each of the three, he might prevail upon their stern majesties to "smooth their wrinkled front." The " spec I was perfectly successful, and the proceeds were "sacked" by the identical officer who had passed the very same description of goods at least a score of times.—(4th Report, Case No. 32.)

The Committee think it right to explain in introducing the next case, that by express law, the Board of Customs are declared bound to pay to the importer the amount of his valuation of goods if detained for seven days; but that the remedy for longer detention is a suit by the merchant in Exchequer, where, although successful, he could recover no costs from the Crown.

X. Some time since, a parcel of Turkey carpets, entered by me, was seized as undervalued, whereupon, I sent the officer a delivery order for them, and a claim for the amount I had valued them at, with the 10 per cent. additional. After the expiry of nine days from the time my entry was passed, I received a notice from the Customhouse that the goods had been stopped through an error as to their measure, made by one of their officers; and I was told that my valuation was accepted, and that the goods were at my disposal. I then declined to receive them, and proved to the Commissioners of Customs, whom I petitioned on the subject, that I had incurred expenses advertising the goods for sale for an early day after I passed the entry; that I had also had catalogues printed; and besides loss of interest and warehouse rent, I informed them that I had missed a favourable opportunity of effecting a sale. Though the Commissioners could not deny the justice of the claim, and were aware that by law such cases ought to be disposed of in seven days, they refused either to confirm the seizure or to give me any indemnification for the loss incurred in consequence thereof. Had I gone to law, I believe I could have compelled them to do so.

With regard to opening packages warehoused for exportation only, I have complaints from foreign correspondents that they are deterred from shipping goods of delicate or fragile materials, by way of this country, owing to the injury they receive in the course of examination by our Custom-house officers; and it appears to me that if the packages were to be sealed on landing, there would be no necessity whatever for disturbing the contents.-(4th Report, Cuse No. 26.)

XI. In December, 1849, we entered a parcel of artificial flowers, which the Custom-house officers detained, and the next week we entered another parcel, which was also detained. We of course refused to petition for the goods; but being ordered expressly for a good customer, we waited on the Surveyor-General to request investigation of the case, in order that the opinion of the officer might be tested; and stated that as we had given in full value, we ought in common justice to have our flowers given up, so that our customers might not be driven to another market for their goods. After a great deal of trifling and delay, we were told if we would increase the value £10 on each case, and pay a satisfaction to the officers, equal in amount to the duty (£2 10s. each case) we might have our flowers. This we at once refused to do, as we considered that these satisfactions are direct premiums held out to the officers, who, if speculatively disposed, have it in their power greatly to annoy the importer. Our flowers were consequently put up for sale, and sold without any profit to the crown. Another trifling affair occurred in December, 1850. A parcel of flowers entered at full cost were detained, and put up in small lots for sale. In January, not any of them were sold, nor were they, until the April sale, when they were purchased at a loss of one-third to the Customs.-(4th Report, Cuse No. 25.)

It will be seen from the following intelligent statement that our Clerkenwell watchmakers have more formidable competitors in our Custom-house officers than in their Genevese rivals.

XII. The landing waiter or some of the officers, I don't know what they are exactly called, about the Customs, chooses to stop a case of watches, another of clocks, and a third of musical boxes, value say, for example, £500. These goods are advertised in the papers for sale in single lots, in almost every instance, with the exception of watches, and that article is not always excepted; for although Sir Thomas Freemantle, in his evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons, has said, watches were always put up in lots of two, I am in a position at one moment's notice to prove by the catalogues that in a great many instances they are exposed singly in lots; and clocks and musical boxes are almost always put up in lots of one clock or box, thereby giving an advantage over both the wholesale and retail dealer of these goods.

It is a common occurrence for people at these sales to purchase goods at chance. They then take them to the retail watchmaker here. These goods having been bought at the Custom-house sale, the watchmaker, finding he is not able to compete with the Queen, comes to me, or some other wholesale dealer, and will not continue his orders because he has seen a wearer of such watches getting them so much cheaper than even in a great many instances the merchant can get them. I do not say but in some instances the consumer pays as much, or more, than he could get them for at a watchmaker's shop, but such cases only make up for the cheaper things that are sold by the Custom-house, and deprive the regular dealer of his fair proportion of custom.

"The great grievance is, that goods are thus stopped in large parcels, and sold out by the Customs in lots to suit the customers, to the prejudice of the fair trader. The party stopping these goods for supposed undervalue, does not suffer should the goods not realize what they were stopped for, therefore the Custom-house has to make up the loss, and that ultimately falls on the public. I would propose that these goods should be either put up in the lots as they were imported, or if these were considered too large, let them be put up and sold in lots of a dozen each.—(6th Report, Case No. 59.)

It is scarcely matter of surprise that these official experiments in what may be termed fiscal chemistry call forth expressions which, as in the following "explosion" are by no means complimentary to the de

monstrators.

XIII. Honourable Sirs,-We passed, duty paid, an entry on the 13th inst. for a case, per City of Boulogne, from Boulogne, which among other goods contained 16lb. of bronze powders, valued at £7 10s. The examining officer detained it for under valuation, and being asked by the landing waiter what we intended doing about it, we stated at once that we gave up the goods, and that they might be sent to the Queen's warehouse, after which we considered the matter finally settled. We were therefore not a little surprised on receiving this day a message from the surveyor, that he wished to see one of our firm, and on sending a clerk down, he gave the bronze up to him!

We beg to complain of the vexatious delay that has taken place to our injury. As your honourable Board will perceive from the above that the full time allowed of seven

days was required to ascertain the value of 161b. of bronze, valued at £7 10s. This is an article which must come frequently under the notice of officers, and the surveyor must have knowledge of the value usually given, and if not, there are plenty of officers, of whom the necessary information might have been got within a couple of hours, and it therefore clearly appears to us that the detaining the goods during a whole week was done neither out of a regard for the interest of the Crown, nor to obtain too quickly information, but to try if a fine of a few shillings could not be squeezed out of us, if we were kept in suspense for the whole week.-(12th Report, Case No. 122.)

There is but too much reason to suspect that the officers, as in the sequel, regulate their estimates of value, more by the necessities of the importer, than by the fair market price of his goods.

XIV. I landed some time ago, a case of cotton gloves from the John Bull, from Hamburg, for which I paid duty on such a value as I thought there was no possibility of their being detained, but they nevertheless were stopped. I did not feel inclined to amend my entry, as I should make a profit by receiving the amount with the usual addition from the honourable Board of Customs, and should be glad to supply them with a larger quantity of the samegoods at the same rate. On this occasion I was not however prepared for such a sale, and had imported these goods for other houses, and therefore did not object to receive them on the value given in, which I am confident no wholesale house in the City would have given for them. In this instance I really believe the land waiter was acting under a mistake, about the value of the goods, and the information which guides him is not such as could be depended on.

I also landed six cases of goods from the same vessel, on a former voyage, which were also detained, on which I paid by Board's order a fine of £5, and additional duty £7 2s. When I paid the original duty on £372 value, the officer, before he had the warrant, asked me at what sum I had valued them, and on telling him £360, he was surprised, and said, 'it was strange that we should agree to a pound,' but my surprise was still greater when he afterwards told me the goods were stopped. The reason is he thinks it is now the season for these goods, and they are worth 15 per cent. more now than at another time, as they are wanted, and that he may therefore safely stop them, although he had previously told me that his valuation was not more than mine. As these goods were sold on contract, I certainly have been obliged to amend my entry to avoid a greater loss by the compensation for non-delivery, which I might have had to pay to the purchasers, but otherwise I should have been well pleased to have allowed the Customs to have had the goods on the usual terms.-(11th Report, Case No. 115.)

Such is a selection from an accumulation of numerous and varied examples of the total want of rule and principle by which the exactions of the fiscal authorities are characterised in reference to duties ad valorem; and which probably constrained the Chairman of the Board to declare with very great sincerity :-"I will admit to the Committee that it is one of the most unpleasant parts of our duty. We should be extremely happy if the wisdom of the Legislature would abolish altogether ad valorem duties. It is one of the most unsatisfactory and difficult parts of the duty which we have to perform to assess goods at value." Considering the inconsiderable proportion of the whole Customs' Revenue derived from this source, it is scarcely to be doubted that this class of duties should be entirely remitted.

Although we somewhat anticipate the analysis of the evidence and documents published by the Select Committee, which it is our intention fully to exhaust, this chapter would scarcely be complete did we omit to append to it the substance of "A Return of all Descriptions of Goods subjected to ad valorem Duty in the Port of London, which, since the 29th

September, 1845, have been detained by the officers of Her Majesty's Customs for supposed undervalue for Duties payable" up to 18th December, 1850. This Return embraces a period of five years and about three months. During that interval 1720 cases of seizure and sale have occurred in this single port.

The amount at which these goods were entered by

£145,121 0 6

the Importers is stated to have been To which add the duty so far as can be ascertained 17,616 3 11

£162,737 4 5

The Revenue would, by accepting the valuation of the Importers, have cleared (at least if we have correctly apprehended a very involved document), a profit of

The officers seized these goods, and paid to the Importers, as their value, with the additional percarriage

The proceeds of their sale amounted to

Add, to this loss, expenses of sale

£17,616 3 11

180,353 15 4

Seizing officer's share of the fine, paid by Crown

Absolute nett loss to the Crown on the seizures . And if we do not misapprehend a somewhat obscure return, to this loss has to be added that of the duty which would have been paid by the importers had no seizure taken place

Total loss

5,729 2 0

£9,734 3 6

17,616 3 11

£27,350 7 5

These figures will leave the public at no loss to comprehend the significancy of the foregoing admission of the chief director in this new method of pushing business by the Irish plan of "gaining a loss."

In justice to their own anxiety to guard every statement issued by them from reasonable question on the ground of accuracy, the Committee feel called upon to state that the return from which the foregoing figures are drawn is in many respects erroneous, and that they avail themselves of it solely as the statement of the Board of Customs. They are also bound to state that the errors they have detected in this document are manifestly not those of the printer, but of the officer responsible for the return.

CHAPTER IV.

PASSENGERS' LUGGAGE.

To national prejudices are to be attributed, especially in the case of a people whose enterprise sends them into every country and climate, and the universality of whose commercial relations connects them with every state and tribe in the world, the most important and lasting consequences. National antipathies it is notorious are the fruitful sources of an aptitude to quarrelsomeness, and the most frequent source of petty aggressions or open, prolonged, and ruinous wars. The spirit in which men regard, receive, and conduct their intercourse with, each other, depends upon the side from which they first contemplate their approach, and the accidental circumstances in which they earliest meet. As men begin to understand and know each other, they perceive that human nature is, a few peculiarities excepted, amazingly similar in all countries ; and that when the external distinctions of class and race are laid aside, the lines which separate character are few and faint. The arts of peace, which render the interchange of communion incident to trade, and necessary to the profits of commerce, disabuse us of many illusions both concerning our own superiority, and the short-comings of other people. We can no longer be stimulated to sympathy with Nelson's patriotic hatred of the French. Steam-boats, railroads, open ports, open competition, and free trade, clear our heads of the notion that we can have natural enemies. Our Peace Society, without diplomatic credentials or State Commissions, is received with honour, not only by the population of kingdoms with which we were formerly at war, but by ministers of state, by the ambassadors of princes, nay by kings and emperors themselves, even to the effect of mutual friendly deliberation upon the causes of existing war, and the terms of accommodation. The municipality of London receives and entertains the representatives and distinguished public officers of foreign states in the kindly offices of hospitality "in honour preferring one another;" and the French Republic returns the amenities of life, by splendid demonstrations of reciprocal good will. The Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations has been cordially recognised, and practically supported by the people of the whole world, as an universal proclamation of the truth that "God has made of one blood all nations," and that it is profoundly true that so far from the injury or

D