shores, and if the hard-working coastguardsmen
detect them in so doing, the casks with
their contents become forfeited, and the
smugglers will be glad to escape in a whole
skin. If a stealthy boatman comes alongside
a newly arrived ship in river or dock, and
receives duty-payable goods over the ship's
side without her Majesty's permission, goods
and boat become alike subject to forfeiture.

The Lively Fanny, Thomas Smith, master,
arrives at a British port from foreign parts.
She has a miscellaneous cargo, comprising
many commodities on which parliament has
permitted the government to impose import
duties, as well as other goods duty free; but
whether free goods or not, the master has to
observe certain forms rigorously exacted by
the Custom-House authorities. He announces
his arrival within twenty-four hours, and
delivers in a report, containing an exact
inventory of all the goods the Lively Fanny
has brought over, where from, how much,
for whom, and all the rest of it. This
announcement made, a representative of the
Customs' department goes on board: an
officer who instantly becomes all-powerful,
for he may lock up anything, unlock
anything, break open anything, according as his
judgment marks out a course of proceeding
in relation to duty-payable goods; the
master loses command over the cargo for the
time being. In due course the officer learns
all he needs to know concerning the cargo;
he may question the master, and probe the
packages and casks. If the result of the
scrutiny differs from the report by a small
amount, the master may amend his report;
but if the difference be great and a fraud
be suspected, both forfeiture and fine are
consequences. In due time, if all be well
with the master, the importer makes his
appearance: or the person, whether owner
or not, to whom the government look for
payment of the duty. If, as is the case in
the majority of instances, the goods are
intended for home consumption, the importer
prepares a bill of entry, which must bear
close comparison with the report of the ship,
in regard to the kind and quantities of goods.
The Customs' officers, with this bill before
them, and with their tariffs and tables at
hand, calculate the amount of duty on every
package, or on the bulk, if the packages are
all alike. If the duty be levied by weight,
measure, or tale, the officers have a straight-
forward course before them; but if the duty
be ad valorem, a per-centage on the value of
the goods, the importer must name that
value as a guide to the officers. All being
fairly and honourably done, the duty calculated,
and the money paid, the bill of entry
then becomes a warrant for the landing and
delivery of the goods; but, until the officer
on board is satisfied that all has been done
that ought to have been done, he will suffer
nothing to be removed from the ship. Such
of the goods as are not duty-payable must be
reported and entered with nearly the same
minuteness as the rest, for the prevention of
smuggling, and for the preparation of
statistical tables, &c. Many kinds of free goods,
as they are called, are watched with a jealous
eye by the officers, who know by experience
that dishonest traders will occasionally
conceal duty goods in casks or packages
professedly containing only free goods; and to
test this, one in every four or five of the
packages is examined by the tidewaiters and
landing surveyors. If suspicion be strong,
the scrutiny goes farther; and if it be
confirmed, the package becomes forfeited.

Several modifications in form occur,—  all
involving forfeiture or penalty in the case of
fraud. Thus an importer is suspected by
the officers of having too low a value
on ad valorem goods, or of having
misnamed them in order to place them in a
group less highly taxed. This may be either
intentional or unintentional. If the latter,
he is permitted to amend his bill of entry,
with a small penalty for his neglect; but, if
the officers suspect him of knowingly under-
valuing his goods, they catch him in his own
trap; they buy his goods for the Queen—
at his own price—  and pay him that price
with deductions for duty, expenses, and
other charges. They then sell the goods by
auction; and if a surplus remains after paying
all outgoings, one-half of this surplus goes
to the general revenue of Customs, and the
other half in augmentation of the salaries of
meritorious officers. There is, therefore, this
gradation in moral offence and fiscal punishment;
if the importer tries to evade duty
altogether, his goods are forfeited; but if he
aim at an evasion of part of the duty by
under-valuation, he is punished by being
obliged to sell to the Queen at a low price.
The warehousing system introduces other
modes of ensuring the payment of duty.
Unless in some very special instances, an
importer has a choice whether he will pay
the duty at once and remove the goods, or
leave the goods in the hands of the Crown
until he pays the impost at some subsequent
period. Variations in market prices, and in
the state of trade generally, under this privilege,
are of great importance. Places of
safety must be provided, where the goods
may be deposited in this interim period; and
these places are the bonded warehouses,
which now exist at about a hundred and
thirty ports in the United Kingdom. The
buildings do not belong to the government,
but are under the rigorous supervision of the
Customs' officers; in some of them any duty-
payable articles may be deposited; in others,
only certain specified kinds. The landing at
these warehouses is specially watched. It is
a rule that nothing shall be landed unless at
prescribed spots, and under the eye of an
officer, under pain of forfeiture.

If an importer intends to warehouse his
goods under bond, instead of paying the duty