§ SIR HOWARD VINCENTI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade if his attention has been called to the expert evidence given before the Prisons Committee of last year as to the Customs Returns of Foreign imports being generally filled up by the carriers' boys, without regard to accuracy; and what steps he has taken or proposes to take in the matter, so as to secure more correct information as to the increasing volume of Foreign competition?
§ MR. RITCHIEIt is the case that the declarations of imports are in many instances filled up by youths in the employ of the carrying and railway companies from the documents in their possession, but the careful checking of the returns by the Statistical Department of the Customs tends to insure the general accuracy of the particulars.