§ MR. MONKasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether his attention has been called to complaints from the mercantile community, as well as from 1579 Customs House officers, as to the difficulty of ascertaining the existing state of the Law as contained in the Customs Acts which had been passed since the Consolidation Act of 1853; and, if so, whether Her Majesty's Government will consider the expediency of introducing a Customs Acts Consolidation Bill during the present Session?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER,in reply, said, his attention had been called to the difficulty in question, and he thought it could not be a matter of wonder that much inconvenience had been felt, because, since the passing of the Consolidation Act, there had been 50 Acts which directly or indirectly affected the Customs, some of which had since been either wholly or partially repealed. A Bill had been prepared for consolidating the Customs' laws, and he hoped the Secretary to the Treasury would be able to introduce it in the present Session. It would be a formidable Bill; and, considering the inconvenience of the present state of the law, he hoped the House might be disposed to pass it, as a Consolidation Bill, with reasonable despatch.