CUSTOMS. 



of new and additional duties, which 

 were generally adjusted on the princi- 

 ples of the old subsidy ; that is, the 

 value of the goods was ascertained by a 

 book of rates, and the amount comput- 

 ed by the quantities of the goods, either 

 with respect to gage, to weight, or to 

 tale ; the duty, therefore, was not a cer- 

 tain proportion of their real value, but 

 of an arbitrary value, agreeing perhaps 

 with the current value at the time of 

 imposing the duty, but which, from the 

 natural fluctuations of trade and manu- 

 factures, must necessarily be liable to 

 many changes and alterations. There 

 was also another mode by which duties 

 were imposed ; this was, by a proportion 

 to the value on goods not rated, being 

 levied according to the actual value of 

 the same, as sworn to by the importers. 

 These principles being once adopted, 

 were followed in all the new and addition- 

 al duties of customs, which were im- 

 posed for payment of the interest on the 

 various loans which were raised from 

 time to time for the public service. In 

 some instances the additional duties 

 were calculated by a per centage on the 

 duties previously paid ; in others a fur- 

 ther duty was laid on a different deno- 

 mination of the commodity, either 

 with respect to its value, its bulk, its 

 weight, or its number ; and by proceed- 

 ing repeatedly in this manner, the nu- 

 merous additions made at length be- 

 came such a mass of confusion, as pro- 

 duced an infinity of inconvenience and 

 delay in business, and became the sub- 

 ject of universal complaint among mer- 

 cantile persons. From the ^reat com- 

 plexity of the whole of this branch of 

 the revenue, arising from the multipli- 

 city of duties, which, being appropriated 

 to separate funds, were obliged to be 

 kept distinct, scarcely any merchant 

 could ascertain, by calculations of his 

 own, the duties he was to pay, but was 

 left in a great measure at the mercy of 

 the officers of the customs, who, from 

 being intended as a check upon the mer- 

 chants, thus became their agents. 



The Commissioners of accounts, ap- 

 pointed in the year 1780, in their 13th, 



14th, and 15th reports, the last of which 

 was dated 19th December 1786, have 

 given a full explanation of the constitu- 

 tion of this department of the revenue, 

 the duties of its several officers, and the 

 mode of collecting, it both in London and 

 the out-ports. They also pointed out a 

 variety of important regulations for re- 

 trenchment or expense, reduction of the 

 establishment, and accommodation of the 

 merchants, most of which have since 

 been carried into effect. But the most 

 extensive and useful measure recommend- 

 ed by them as a consolidation of all the 

 existing duties, by the substitution of one 

 single duty on each article, amounting as 

 nearly as possible to the aggregate of all 

 the various duties then payable. This 

 was effected in 1787 by an act 27Geo. 

 HI. cap 13, by which the accounts of the 

 custom-house were much simplified, and 

 the rates of duty rendered intelligible to 

 all persons affected by them. 



In the year 1797 eight new branches of 

 duties had been created since the conso- 

 lidation, which made it necessary to keep 

 so many new and distinct accounts. At 

 this time the number of articles subject 

 to the custom duties amounted to not less 

 than 1200, not more than 160 of which 

 appear upon the annual accounts present- 

 ed to parliament, as yielding the sum of 

 1000/. and upwards ; the remaining 1040 

 are classed together, under the general 

 head of " sundry small articles," and did 

 not produce, in the whole, more than from 

 85.000/. to 110.00U/. per annum; each of 

 these articles, nevertheless, had some 

 special regulation belonging to it, and the 

 accumulated mass of these details had, 

 in the opinion of the Select Committee 

 on Finance, rendered the whole system 

 much too complex. That this opinion 

 was well founded will be admitted from 

 the circumstance, that the statutes rela- 

 tive to the customs alone, make six very 

 large volumes in folio. 



In the year 1803 the customs were 

 again consolidated by 43 Geo. III. cap. 

 68 ; but additional duties have been since 

 imposed, which will render it necessary 

 to have recourse again to this useful mea- 

 sure at a foture period. 



