S61 



CUSTOMS-DUTIES. 



CUSTOMS-DUTIES. 



362 



George III., inclusive.' The effect of the numerous fresh enactments 

 to impair the usefulness of this exposition of the revenue laws was 

 very soon apparent, and in 1823 the late Mr. Deacon Hume, then 

 Comptroller of the Customs in the port of London, was appointed by 

 the Treasury "to undertake the preparation of a general law or set of 

 laws for the consolidation of the Customs of the United Kingdom." 

 In the performance of this duty, Mr. Hume prepared eleven bills, 

 which received the royal assent in July, 1825, and came into operation 

 1st of January, 1826. These Acts were 6 Geo. IV., caps 106, 107, 

 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116. The first of these Acts 

 repealed 443 statutes, many of which were obsolete. In 1833, 

 eight of Mr. Hume's Acts were repealed or altered by 3 & 4 Wm. IV., 

 caps. 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57. These Acts no doubt effected 

 great improvements in the management of the customs, but cap. 56 

 enumerated no fewer than 1150 different rates of duty chargeable 

 on imported articles, all other articles paying duty as " unenume- 

 rated." In 1840, Mr. Porter, of the Board of Trade, in his evidence 

 before the Parliamentary committee on import duties, showed that 

 out of a total amount of 22,962,610*. of customs-duties received 

 in 1839, 







17 articles produced 94| per cent, or . . 21,700,630 

 29 articles produced 3-^ per cent or . . . 898,661 



46 articles produced 98J per cent, or . . 22,599,291 



In 1842, Sir Robert Peel effected some improvements in this system, 

 which were carried into effect by 5 & 6 Viet. c. 47. This Act reduced 

 the duty on about 750 different articles on which the receipts had 

 amounted to about 270,000*. The general principle of the measure 

 was to reduce the duty on raw materials to about 5 per cent., to limit 

 the highest duty on partially manufactured materials to 12 per cent., 

 and on complete manufactures to about 20 per cent. The number of 

 articles in the tariff was now reduced to 813. Foreign horned cattle, 

 sheep, goats, swine, salmon, soles, and other fish, and fresh beef and 

 pork, which had been prohibited formerly, were admitted on paying a 

 duty under the tariff of 1842. In 1844 the duty on foreign wool was 

 abolished. In 1845, Sir Robert Peel effected further improvements in 

 the tariff by abolishing the duty on cotton wool (about 680,000*.) and 

 on 430 other articles, on which the duty amounted to 320,000*. By 

 this plan expenses of warehousing were saved, and a number of trouble- 

 some accounts and impediments to business were got rid of ; but for 

 statistical purposes the Customs department retained the power of 

 examining articles which do not pay duty. The paramount object of 

 the tariff reform of 1845 was to encourage the abundance and cheapness 

 of raw materials of manufacture, and the estimated amount of the 

 taxes repealed was 3,614,394*. 



The following is an abstract from an official ' Expository Statement,' 

 showing the net annual produce of the duties of Customs on all 

 articles imported into the United Kingdom in two years preceding and 

 in two years following the establishment of the new tariff (5 A 6 Viet 

 c. 47). 



Articles producing under the Old Tariff. 



New Tariff. 



Under 100 . . 19,037 



100 to 900 . . 71,972 



500 to 1000 . . 69,092 



1000 to 10,000. . 370,718 



10,000 to 50,000 . . 706,991 



50,000 to 100,000 . . 389,006 



100,000 and upwards . . 20,810,542 



Exempt from duty or prohibited 196 



22,637,494 



New Tariff. 

 



8,040 



34,461 



36,258 



317,492 



511,570 



395,603 



21,417,462 



22,720,886 



On 598 articles, the duties on which were altered in 1842, 1843, and 

 1844, the receipts were 3,851,259?. in 1840 and 1841, and 2,478,306*. in 

 1843 and 1844. 



On 214 articles, the duties on which were not altered in 1842, 1843, 

 and 1844, the receipts were 18,114,525*. in 1840 and 1841, and 

 19,094,890*. in 1843 and 1844. 



In 1844 the gross receipt on the following five articles was 

 15,728,857*.: 



Sugar 

 Tea . 



Tobacco . . 

 Foreign spirits 

 Wine 



4,758,415 

 3,884,720 

 3,093,217 

 2,193,067 

 1,799,490 



The net amount of duties collected in the United Kingdom on 

 imported articles, after the deduction of drawbacks, repayments, &c. in 

 the last two years of the old tariff and the first two years of the new 

 Uriff, wa aa follows : 



' 1842 

 1843 

 1844 







23,302,152 

 22.3j6.324 

 22,450,074 

 23,864,494 



On corn, included in 

 preceding column. 







568,341 

 1,363,978 



758,295 

 1,098,383 



The following table shows the nature of the tariff previous to the 

 alterations in 1845 : 



In 1846 the Customs duty on corn was in fact repealed, only a 

 fiscal duty of Is. per quarter being retained. In 1850, (13 & 14 Viet. 

 c. 95) further restrictions were removed ; manufactured goods of the 

 Isle of Man and the Channel Islands were admitted free into the 

 United Kingdom ; tea and tobacco were allowed to be received by 

 them either from the United Kingdom or elsewhere ; and the duty 

 was taken off stringy bark-wood, blue gum- wood, locust-wood, trenails, 

 and some other woods used for ship-building and for shovel-hilts, and 

 also the export duty on coals and culm. The duties on wood received 

 some further alterations in 1852 by the 14 & 15 Viet. c. 62. In 1853, 

 by 16 4 17 Viet. c. 54, the duties on 134 articles, including butter 

 and cheese, were entirely removed, and a reduced tariff imposed on 

 260 articles, including tea, the estimated amount of the reduction being 

 1,499,474*. In 1856 old metal of any sort, fit only for re-manufacture, 

 was admitted duty free, and in 1857 plums and a few other articles. 

 In 1857 the duty on platina and chloride of lime was repealed, and a 

 few other articles reduced. Notwithstanding these continued reduc- 

 tions, both in the number of articles and the rate of duty imposed, 

 the amount of the customs' duties for the year ending Dec. 31, 1858, 

 was 24,149,215*. 



The management of the revenue of Customs is committed to a board 

 of nine commissioners, acting as a subordinate department of the 

 Treasury. The commissioners receive a salary of 1200*. : the chairman 

 receives 8001. in addition, and the deputy-chairman 500*. 



Nearly one-half of the Customs revenue of the United Kingdom is 

 collected in the port of London, and- about one-fifth of the whole in 

 the port of Liverpool. In 1843 the amounts collected at five principal 

 ports was as under : 



London . 

 Liverpool 

 Bristol . 

 Dublin 

 Hull 



11,354,702 



4,121,522 



996,750 



977,890 



525,418 



In 1858 the total amount of the duty was 24,149,2157. ; to which 

 England contributed 19,619,346*., Scotland 2,264,816*., and Ireland 

 2,265,053. The chief ports in the United Kingdom stood as follows : 



London 12,332,061 



Liverpool 3,622,503 



Bristol . . . 1,296,550 



Hull . 

 Newcastle 

 Plymouth 

 Glasgow . 

 Greenock 

 Lcith 

 Dublin 

 Belfast . 

 Cork . 



282,387 

 262,867 

 228,372 

 801,895 

 654,6<J4 

 479,622 

 1,018,226 

 383,089 

 275,724 



Those articles of which the importation is prohibited are termed 

 contraband, from the Italian contrabando, against the proclamation. 

 Since the adoption of the warehousing system in this kingdom, the 

 list of goods the importation of which is prohibited has been made 

 exceedingly short; it comprises at this time (1859) only the following 

 articles : 



Arms, ammunition, and utensils of war, by way of merchandise, 

 except by license from her Majesty for the public stores only. 



Books first printed in the United Kingdom, and reprinted in any 

 other country and imported for sale. Notice must be given to the 

 commissioners of Customs by authors or owners that copyright is 

 subsisting. 



Clocks or watches, with any mark or stamp representing any legal 

 British assay mark or stamp, or purporting to be of British make, or 

 not having the name and abode of some foreign maker visible on the 

 frame and the face, or not being complete. 



