§ MR. FLAVINTo ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether the duties of officers in Customs and Excise bonded warehouses are identical and governed by a common code of regulations; and if so, will he state why the wearing of uniform by officers in Customs warehouses is considered necessary in the public interest, whereas it is not so considered in the case of officers in Excise warehouses; and whether he will consider the advisability of abolishing the wearing of uniform by surveyors and examining officers of Customs.
§ (Answered by Mr. McKenna.) I understand that the duties of Customs and of Excise officers in bonded warehouses are governed by a common code of regulations, but are only identical in so far as the business of the warehouse is of a similar character. Customs officers, unlike officers of Excise, are required in the ordinary course of their duty to examine goods on open wharves and quays, on board vessels, in transit or other sheds, and in baggage warehouses, as well as in bonded warehouses; and in the opinion of the Board of Customs, this wide range of employment renders it necessary in the public interest that their officers when employed in the performance of these duties should wear a uniform, which at once establishes their identity as persons authorised by the Crown to examine merchandise and private property for revenue purposes. They inform me, therefore, that they cannot recommend the abolition of the wearing of uniform by surveyors and examining officers. I learn, moreover, that the Board of Customs recently received a deputation of their officers on the subject of uniform, and, after fully 1255 considering the matter, decided that it was not advisable to make any change in the regulations.