HC Deb 02 June 1871 vol 206 cc1434-5
LORD EUSTACE CECIL

asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether, in regard to a large quantity of adulterated tea lately allowed to pass through the Custom House, and so thrown upon the London market, any regulations exist which make it the duty of Custom House officers to examine and detain all suspected goods in bond; and, if not, whether he will take steps to issue such regulations, so that some check may be put to a practice which inevitably leads to an open breach of the Law?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER

said, in reply, that no regulations of the kind alluded to were in force, nor was there any law upon which such regulations could be founded. If he were asked whether he thought it desirable to endeavour to persuade Parliament to make such a law, he should say, so far as his own opinion went, that it was not; because, if they were to give the Customs the power of checking all the adulterations which took place, they would thus make the service more unpopular than it was at present. It appeared to him that checks on adulteration ought, like taxes, to be made as light as possible; and he also thought that the best period for stopping adulteration was when the article was exposed for sale, and not in the earlier stages.

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