HC Deb 05 March 1860 vol 156 cc2264-8

House in Committee according to Order.

Mr. MASSEY in the Chair.

(In the Committee.)

Moved, That the Duties of Customs chargeable upon the goods, wares, and merchandise hereinafter mentioned, imported into Great Britain and Ireland, shall cease and determine, namely:—

"Ammunition, as denominated in the tariff."

COLONEL SYKES

inquired, whether there would not be some restriction on the importation of arms, such as existed with respect to the sale of fire arms manufactured in this country, which required to have the Tower brand upon them?

MR. LAING

said, that the present Resolution only affected the import duties upon the articles specified, and had nothing to do with police regulations for the public safety.

"Butter."

In reply to Colonel UPTON,

MR. LAING

said, that it would be declared duty free, and that if there was anything deleterious combined with it, it would be the duty of the Excise to interfere. As regarded the item of dates, they had gone on the principle of protecting the sugar revenue.

9. Resolved,

"That the Duties of Customs chargeable upon the Goods, Wares, and Merchandise hereinafter mentioned, imported into Great Britain and Ireland, shall cease and determine, namely,—

Almonds, not Jordan nor bitter.

—Jordan.

Ammunition, as denominated in the Tariff.

Apples, dried.

Baskets.

Beads, as denominated in the Tariff.

Boxes, namely, Brass.

—not otherwise charged with Duty.

Butter.

—of and from a British Possession.

Candles, as denominated in the Tariff.

Capers, including the Pickle.

Cassia Lignea.

Cheese.

—of and from a British Possession.

Cinnamon.

Cloves.

Coculus Indicus.

Copper, Manufactures of, not otherwise enumerated or described, and Copper Plates engraved.

Coral negligées.

Daguerreotype Plates.

Dates.

Eggs.

—of and from a British Possession.

Extracts, as denominated in the Tariff.

Ginger.

Glass, Flint Cut Glass, Flint Coloured Glass, and Fancy Ornamental Glass of whatever kind.

Gongs.

Grains, Guinea and of Paradise.

Japanned or Lacquered Ware.

Liquorice Paste.

—of and from British Possessions.

—Powder.

—of and from British Possessions.

—Juice.

Mace.

Mustard, Flour.

—Mixed or Manufactured, except Flour.

Nutmegs, as denominated in the Tariff.

Nuts, small nuts.

—Walnuts.

Nux Vomica.

Oilcloth.

Onions.

Opium.

Oranges and Lemons.

Pears, dried.

Pewter, Manufactures of, not otherwise enumerated.

Pimento.

Platting, as denominated in the Tariff.

Pomatum.

Quassia.

Rice, not rough nor in the husk.

—rough and in the husk.

Salacine.

Sauces, not otherwise enumerated.

Scaleboards,

Seeds, Caraway.

—of and from British Possessions.

Ships, Foreign built, broken up, or sold to be broken up or abandoned by the owners, or sold as wreck, whether afterwards recovered or repaired or not.

Soap, as denominated in the Tariff.

Soy.

Spa Ware.

Spelter or Zinc, manufactures of, not otherwise enumerated.

Stearine.

Tallow.

—of and from British Possessions.

Tin, foil.

—manufactures of, not otherwise enumerated.

Veneers.

Washing Balls.

Yarn, namely, Woollen or Worsted, as denominated in the Tariff.

Resolution 10.

"Gold Plate."

MR. AYRTON

said, that no homelmanufacturer could sell an article of god or silver till it had been submitted to the assay of Goldsmith's Hall, and obtained their stamp as a proof of genuineness. If it was not exactly up to the standard, the article was liable to be broken up. This was often the cause of great expense to the manufacturer, and involved the necessity of being a little above the standard. He thought that gold and silver plate imported into this country ought to pay some amount of duty above that proposed (17s. per oz. troy for gold plate, and 1s. 6d. per oz. troy for silver) to represent the expenses of this process of assay, or be made liable to some similar process after importation.

COLONEL SYKES

thought the public should be assured that the articles imported were really gold and silver.

MR. LAING

said, the measures necessary to ascertain the purity of the articles would be taken by the Customs on the clearance, and the proper place to introduce the requisite provisions would be in the Customs Bill. He would take care before this Resolution was reported to be in a position to give full information to the hon. Member of what was intended to be done when the Customs Bill was introduced. He should be able to say, at a later stage, what those measures were.

10. Resolved, That, in lieu of the Duties of Customs now chargeable on the articles undermentioned im- ported into Great Britain and Ireland, the following Duties shall be charged,—

s. d.
Plate of Gold the oz. troy 17 0
—Silver, gilt or ungilt, the oz. troy 1 6
Powder, namely,—
Hair Powder the cwt. 0 4½
Perfumed the cwt. 0 4½
Vermicelli and Macaroni the cwt. 0 4½
Currants the cwt. 7 0
Figs the cwt. 7 0
Fig Cake the cwt. 7 0
Raisins the cwt. 7 0

Resolution 11.

"Wood and Timber, hewn, and Lathwood."

COLONEL SYKES

asked, whether any drawback would be allowed for the duty paid on stocks in hand?

MR. LAING

said, the payment of drawbacks, unless under special arrangements, had been discontinued. On timber no drawbacks was intended to be given as there was no Excise survey.

COLONEL SYKES

said, there were some kinds of timber that could be identified, and which were fairly entitled to a drawback.

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

observed, that this was a question not affecting timber only, but was applicable to almost all descriptions of foreign goods liable to the law and duties of Customs, although there were some that could not be identified from their appearance with others that could. The holders of silks and of French gloves were in the same position with those of wood, and there was no way of dealing with the question except by drawing a line between those goods that were under survey and those that were not.

11. Resolved, That in lieu of the Duties of Customs now chargeable on Wood and Timber, as denominated in the Tariff, Foreign and Colonial, on importation into the United Kingdom, the following Duties shall be charged:—

s. d.
Wood and Timber, hewn, and Lath-wood the load 1 0
—sawn or split, planed or dressed the load 2 0
Firewood, not exceeding three feet in length the load 1 0

Resolution 12.

"Teak and Wood for ship-building purposes 1s. the load."

MR. AYRTON moved the substitution of 5s. for 1s.

Amendment proposed to leave out 1s. and insert 5s. instead thereof.

Question proposed, "That 1s. stand part of the proposed Resolution."

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

said, that the nominal duty of 1s. had been put on in compliance with the representations of the trade. So far as the Government could ascertain, the general feeling of the trade was in favour of this nominal imposition which would afford the parties an opportunity of obtaining a correct idea of the quantity, measurement, &c., through the Customs-house lists.

MR. AYRTON

said, he would withdraw his Amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Original Question put, and agreed to.

s. d.
Mahogany, Hard Wood, or Furniture Wood the ton 1 0
Staves, not exceeding 72 inches in length nor 7 inches in breadth nor 3¼ inches in thickness (except Staves for Herring Barrels) the load 1 0

13. Resolved, That so much of Act 16th and 17th Vic. c. 107, sec. 44, as prohibits the Importation of Malt, be repealed, and that the following Duty be charged thereon, on importation into Great Britain and Ireland, namely,—

£ s. d.
Malt the quarter 1 5 0

14. Resolved, That the Duties and drawbacks of Customs now charged and allowed on the articles under-mentioned shall continue to be levied, charged and allowed, on and after the 1st of April 1860, until the 1st of July 1861, on Importation into the United Kingdom, or on Exportation there-from to Foreign parts, or on removal to the Isle of Man for consumption therein, namely,—

House resumed.

Resolutions to be reported To-morrow. Committee report Progress; to sit again on Wednesday.