§ SIR FITZROY KELLYsaid, he would beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reference to a paper quoted by him, Whether he is prepared to state in what manner, and upon what principle, the price or value of Foreign Wine is estimated or ascertained upon the payment of the Customs Duty upon importation?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, in reply, that the question was one of considerable importance, but the answer he had to give had nothing in it peculiar to the case of foreign wines. The system organized in this country for ascertaining the value of imports, with great advantage as far as accurate knowlege was concerned, had nothing to do with the payment of the Customs Duty, because the Customs Duty had no reference to the value, and if it had the probability was the value upon which the duty was paid would be different from the true value of the commodity. The object of the system was to give, as far as possible, the true value of the articles brought into the country, and the mode in which this was done might be laid before the House by the publication of the various memoranda issued by the Customs Department, and it was clearly described by the following extract:—
In the case of the more numerous and more considerable articles which are entered at the Custom House by quantity alone, the value exhibited in the statistical record is obtained by a process of computation which combines the quantity with the average form of the several commodities. The average prices are supplied by the Inspector of Imports and Exports, in part by some of the leading merchants and brokers in the City of London, and in part by three gentlemen who have the special office of watching the course of the markets, who receive a fixed remuneration from the Treasury, and who collect such prices in the ports of London, Liverpool, and Hull respectively.The hon. and learned Gentleman would perceive that the statement of average value was, from the necessity of the case, 114 not a precise Return in the strict sense of the term, but he believed it was a trustworthy estimate, and came as near to the fact as it was possible to do. He had himself upon certain occasions tested the mode adopted by the Customs and had seen no reason to object to it. If the hon. and learned Gentleman chose to move for the instructions issued by the Customs or any other Department there could be no objection to their production.