§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That a sum, not exceeding £733,315, be granted to Her Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1878, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Customs Department.
§ MR. O'SULLIVANsaid, that there were more Boards of Customs than were necessary, with the exception of Liverpool, Glasgow, Dublin, and a few other places. One Board, with fewer officers, was quite equal to the discharge of the greater part of the duties, the others being relegated to the Board of Inland Revenue. He moved the reduction of the Vote by the sum of £974,215. He might mention that he had proofs in his hand to show that the racking off of spirits in bond caused a loss to the Government of £200,000, though the Chancellor of the Exchequer only admitted a loss of £13,000. All this would be avoided if all the work was carried out under one Board; but the system of gauging in the Customs was quite different from that carried out under the Board of Inland Revenue, which was the principal cause of loss to the revenue of the country.
THE CHAIRMANpointed out that the hon. Member had moved to reduce the Vote now asked for by a sum largely in excess of the Vote itself, and indicated the irregularity of submitting in this mode a Motion which was tantamount to saying "No" to the whole Vote.
§ MR. O'SULLIVAN, explaining that he did not challenge the entire Vote, moved its reduction by the sum of £700,000 to raise the question.
§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That a sum, not exceeding £33,315, be granted to Her Majesty, to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March 1878, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Customs Department."—(Mr. O'Sullivan.)
§ MR. W. H. SMITHobserved that the question raised by the hon. Member was a very large one, involving the abolition of one of the two great Departments of the Customs and the Inland Revenue. He was far from saying that it would not be possible for the Customs Department to perform many of the duties of the Inland Revenue Department, or for the Inland Revenue to perform some of the duties of the Customs Department; but the question was of too extensive a character to be summarily disposed of. It had already engaged the attention of successive Governments for many years; and it had been the earnest desire of 1423 Government to employ as few hands as possible consistently with the efficiency of the Public Service; but, meanwhile, he did not think the present was a convenient time to discuss the question which the hon. Member had put before the Committee.
§ MR. PARNELLdissented from the view that that was not a proper time for discussing the question.
§ It being ten minutes before Seven of the clock, the Debate stood adjourned.
§ Resolutions to be reported To-morrow;
§ Committee also report Progress; to sit again To-morrow.
§ The House suspended it sitting at Seven of the clock.
§ The House resumed its sitting at Nine of the clock.