§ MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W.) (for Mr. P. M'DONALD) (Sligo, N.)asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether Mr. Foley, Lessee of the Cork Custom House, is allowed, contrary to the Code, to keep a stock of duty-paid spirits in proximity to the vaults in which wines and spirits are bonded, only a partition wall dividing the two, and Mr. Foley's portion not being accessible to the officers; whether Mr. Foley took his licence out from the Excise for Merchants' Quay, although his duty-paid stock is kept in his stores in the Customs House, divided only by the above-mentioned partition wall from the Bonded Department; and, whether it is a fact that the principal traders have notified the Collector at Cork, in writing, of their intention to remove at once their goods to an Excise warehouse?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square)Mr. Foley has a stock of duty-paid spirits in a compartment of the warehouse adjoining one in which bonded wines and spirits are kept; but the compartments are separated by a wall three feet thick in its thinnest part. This proximity is contrary to the provisions of the Code; but the warehouse is a Crown building; and, under the circumstances, it is considered that the Revenue is safe, although a portion of the wall on Mr. Foley's side is not at all 266 times accessible to the officers. Mr. Foley is licensed by the Excise as a spirit dealer at Merchants' Quay. Some of the principal traders have notified to the Collector at Cork that if Mr. Foley is allowed to continue to deal as a wholesale dealer they will remove their stock from the Customs warehouse to an Excise warehouse. There is no objection, from the point of view of the Revenue, to such removal; and I hope it may not cause inconvenience to the traders.