§ MR. TURNERsaid, he rose to ask the President of the Board of Trade, Whether is is the fact that in charging the Customs Duty on Foreign Paper a tare of 3lb. is deducted from the weight of each ream on account of wrappers, the duty being charged only on the naked paper; whereas, in charging the Excise Duty to the British Manufacturer the whole ream, including the wrapper, is weighed for Duty, and if such be the fact, what reasons can be given why this protection is given to the Foreign Manufacturer?
§ MR. MILNER GIBSONsaid, he had made inquiries as to the practice of the Customs in charging import duties on foreign paper, and he found it was not correct to say that a tare of 3lb. was deducted from the weight of each ream on account of wrapper. It was the practice of the Customs, and had been so for some time, while charging in the first instance the whole duty according to the weight of the paper, afterwards to return 2 per cent of the weight. The Excise did pretty much the same thing, because, as, according to 854 the Paper Duties Act the turn of the scale was given to the Crown, there was an allowance afterwards made to the manufacturer of 2 per cent of the weight. There was, therefore, no protection to the foreigner as against the Englishman, as both the Customs and the Excise allowed 2 per cent of the weight when the paper was assessed for duty.
§ Motion agreed to:
§ House at rising to adjourn till Monday next.