such foreign state or power any article of the growth, produce, or manufacture of his Majesty's dominions, when imported from any of such dominions in British vessels or in national vessels, to any duties or charges which would not be payable on the like article being of the growth, produce, or manufacture of any other country, and imported from such other country in national vessels ;-or that any such foreign state or power hath granted any bounties, drawbacks, or allowances upon the exportation from any port or place within the dominions thereof of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of the dominions of any other foreign state or power, which hath not also been granted upon the exportation from such port or place of such or the like articles being the growth, produce, or manufacture of his Majesty's dominions; then it shall be lawful for his Majesty, by any order or orders to be by him made, with the advice of his privy council, to prohibit the importation of all or of any sort of corn, grain, meal, or flour from the dominions of any such foreign state or power; and it shall also be lawful for his Majesty from time to time, with the advice of his privy council, to revoke and to renew any such order or orders. § 7. The remaining sections relate to the appointment of inspectors and comptrollers of corn returns, and the ascertaining &c. from time to time the average prices of British corn, to regulate the amount of the duties. Average prices to be made up and published every week.-The average prices of all British corn, by which the rate and amount of the said duties shall be regulated, shall be made up and computed on Thursday in each week, in manner following; that is to say-The comptroller of corn returns shall on Thursday in each week, from the returns received by him during the week next preceding, ending on and including the Saturday in such preceding week, add together the total quantities of each sort of British corn respectively appearing by such returns to have been sold, and the total prices for which the same shall thereby appear to have been sold, and shall divide the amount of such total prices respectively by the amount of such total quantities of each sort of British corn respectively, and the sum produced thereby shall be added to the sums in like manner produced in the five weeks immediately preceding the same, and the amount of such sums so added shall be divided by six, and the sum thereby given shall be deemed and taken to be the aggregate average price of each sort of British corn respectively, for the purpose of regulating and ascertaining the rate and amount of the duties under this act; and the said comptroller shall cause such aggregate weekly averages to be published in the next succeeding Gazette, and shall on Thursday in each week transmit a certificate of such aggregate average prices to the collector or other chief officer of the customs at each of the several ports of the United Kingdom; and the rate and amount of the duties to be paid under the provisions of this act shall from time to time be regulated and governed at each of the ports of the United Kingdom respectively by the aggregate average prices of British corn at the time of the entry for home consumption of any corn, grain, meal, or flour chargeable with any such duty, as such aggregate average prices shall appear and be stated in the last of such certificates as aforesaid, which shall have been received as aforesaid by the collector or other chief officer of customs at such port. § 30. By section 47, this act is not to affect the practice of measuring corn, &c. in, or the privileges of the city of London.-Section 48 is for the limitation of actions, &c. WHEAT : TABLE of DUTIES to which this Act refers. IF IMPORTED FROM ANY FOREIGN COUNTRY :— Whenever the average price of Wheat, made up and published in BARLEY: .... .... ... And in respect of each integral shilling, or any part of each .... Whenever the average price of Barley, made up and published in ................ And in respect of each integral shilling, or any part of each OATS: Whenever the average price of Oats, made up and published in £ 38 123 118 108 18 016 S 013 0.10 S 068 028 010 15 0124 010 0.13 10 093 .... And in respect of every integral shilling by which such price Whenever such price shall be at or above 31s. the quarter ..... And in respect of each integral shilling, or any part of each RYE, PEAS, AND BEANS :— 01 0.109 Whenever the average price of Rye, or of Peas, or of Beans, made Whenever such price shall be at or above 46s, the quarter....... ..... And in respect of each integral shilling, or any part of each WHEAT MEAL AND FLOUR: For every barrel, being 196 pounds :-a duty equal in amount to OATMEAL :- For every quantity of 1814 pounds :-a duty equal in amount to 010 0169 MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN, BUCK WHEAT, BEER OR BIGG: For every quarter :-a duty equal in amount to the duty payable on IF THE PRODUCE OF AND IMPORTED FROM ANY BRITISH POSSESSION IN WHEAT : For every quarter .... Until the price of British Wheat, made up and published in BARLEY: £. s. d. 050 ..... 006 026 For every quarter OATS: For every quarter... ...... ....... 0 0 6 2 0 ... Until the price of British Oats, made up and published in manner required by law, shall be 25s. the quarter. Whenever such price shall be at or above 25s. the quarter ... BYE, PEAS, AND BEANS : For every quarter... ... Until the price of British Rye, or of Peas, or of Beans, made up and published in manner required by law, shall be 41s. Whenever such price shall be at or above 41s. the quarter WHEAT MEAL AND FLOUR: ....... For every barrel, being 196 pounds :-a duty equal in amount to OATMEAL: For every quantity of 181 pounds :-a duty equal in amount to MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN, BUCK WHEAT, BEER OR BIGG : For every quarter :-a duty equal in amount to the duty payable on 006 0 3 0 006 9 Geo. IV. c. 76. An Act to amend the Laws relating to the Customs. Prohibited goods from Guernsey, &c.-No goods which are prohibited to be imported into the United Kingdom from Foreign Countries shall be imported from any of the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, although the manufacture of any of those islands, if the materials of which such goods be made are the produce of any foreign country; and this prohibition shall be obeyed and enforced in like manner as if the same were set forth in a certain Table contained in the act for the general regulation of the customs, and denominated "A Table of Prohibitions and Restrictions Inwards." § 5. Corn, &c. to be warehoused under the general warehousing acts.— All corn, grain, meal, or flour, or other ground corn, may be imported into the United Kingdom to be warehoused under the regulations of the 6 Geo. IV. c. 112, or of any act in force for the time being, made for the warehousing of goods, without payment of duty at the time of the first entry thereof, or notwithstanding that such goods may be prohibited to be imported for home use. $15. By Order dated 6th August, 1828, Corn may be Warehoused at all Ports already approved of. CORN TRADE. Several vessels laden with Corn having been put out of their course by reason of the regulations respecting Quarantine, and such delay having occasioned them to arrive at their port of destination after a new weekly average had been made, Mr. Spring Rice, by letter dated 25th June, 1831, directed the Commissioners of the Customs, to instruct the quarantine officers to put upon their certificates the exact day and hour when such vessels arrived at the quarantine station ;—and that the merchants, importer, or consignee of the Corn shall have the privilege of entering the Corn for the duty, payable according to the average in force at the time when the certificate of the quarantine officers bears date, or from the warehouse,-in like manner, as if the vessel had arrived at the port of discharge, and the master been enabled to make a report of his cargo. CHAPTER XII. OF THE COAL TRADE, AND ACCOUNTS PROPER Accounts proper in the Coal-Trade. THE Coal-trade is carried on in a different way, by shipping, from any other trade; for, in general, the owners of ships seek employment by freighting them to merchants; and they have no concern or interest in the cargo farther than that of safely carrying it to its destined port; but, in the coal-trade, the two characters of merchant and ship-owner are united; they may make themselves liable to all the chances of rise or fall of markets, of the repute or disrepute of the particular sort of coals which the ship happens to have in; of the plenty or scarcity of coals at market; and, too frequently, instead of making a profit in each of the separate characters of merchant and ship-owner, they find that the expenses of the voyage absorb all the money received for the coals, and that an absolute loss takes place by the adventure. That this is the case is well known by all that have been concerned in it; that it should so continue, arises from the coal-trade being almost the only one where the ship-owner can, on his small capital, and by the variety of acts of parliament passed to make the trade free and open, take on himself the united characters of merchant and ship-owner; and thus the surplus of the carrying-trade finds its way into this, when all others fail or are fully supplied. But, beside this, the business of a merchant is carried on by system; he diligently makes inquiry as to the annual demand for the article, the quantity in hand, and what is likely to be imported by others; and, from his large capital, he is enabled to keep the goods until better prices can be obtained. These are not attended to in the coal-trade; it is a fluctuating article of demand, varies with every change of wind; and the ship-owner, having a valuable property and daily-increasing expenses in his ship, can neither study the markets, nor, from his small capital and heavy expenses, speculate against the time when the demand for the article may take place. But this is not all; his habits of life do not lead him to manage his accounts on system, or discriminate where the gain or loss happens: he takes his chance of the market, be it high or low; and the actual examination of the cash in his pocket, at the end of his voyage, has been formerly known to be the only criterion by which he judged of his profits. Where accounts are kept, the whole is consolidated into one, without discrimination of what arises from freight made of the coals, or what are the expenses of the ship. To lay the first step towards so necessary a separation of accounts is attempted in the following instance, taken from an actual voyage in the coal-trade, at one of the prices subsequently given : |