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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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articles not found in the report . These rejrtitstioDtf highly proper and necessary , evince that the oath is considered a mere form . The same observations apply to
the oath of the master to the Outvoice , in both of which cases the officers of the Customs are guided by their own documents , and which documents are what chiefly guide the master .
The oath of the merchant respecting the imports of salt , fish and oil , implies his knowledge of facts respecting which he must be ignorant , and for which he must reJy on Custom-Honse documents shewing the place of export .
Upon the transfer of goods entered for one vessel , but afterwards shipped in another , he chiefly depends upon C us torn-House documents and the account taken by the mate , but cannot otherwise come within the knowledge of the merchant , and might with equal propriety be re * quired for every entry outwards .
The form required oa the export of goods entitled to draw-back , is perplexing * , and must , from its nature , frequently lead to false oaths , though wholly unintentionally . The delays are also great , $ pd are * ? ifctirnes the means of preventing shipments , without giving any adequate security to the revenue in the identification of the
goods . The oath or declaration previous to i \\ e receipt of debentures , requires the attestation of the merchant to the fact of the export of the goods , upon which he does not ; possess the same degree of knowledge as the officers of the customs , and upon which alone the offi cers act ; the
declaration as to property is , in most instances , not within the knowledge of the shipping a ^ e ri t , with whom the principal is not in the habit of communicating , whether the goods are his own , or shipped to the order of his correspondent abroad ; it is also a very unpleasant * exposure of the shipping agent ' s correspondent .
The oath previous to receiving the bounty , in addition'to the objections respecting- debentures , also requires the attestation of a mere shipping agent , as to the value of which he is ignorant , and which the officer very properly , by his elimination of the goods , shews that be considers « ira to be . Respecting- luggage , it requires a declaration that books , furniture , &c . are wearing- apparel ; and the spirit of the regulation is often violated by the letter of it . „ *
T | ie proof of damage of goods on their passage is required of the merchant , who has never seen the goods , < ind to which no attention i 8 paid wpiles ^ the officer has still the custody of the £ ood « , » nd can , * M > to . uniformly miA with £ t ?* t jpwpriefy
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does , -exercise bis pwn judgment j it gives great trouble to the officer and merchant , and is in itself a , mere form . The bath . to the petition for the return
of goods under seizure , is only considered of value as it is confirmed by tbe report of the seizing- officer ; it is , as in many other instances , injurious to the merchant , as presuming tfmt be subscribes his name to that which he will mot swear ; it conveys no additional evidence of the fact .
Upon recoveri ng duty upon over-ei ^ try ^ the proof is taken entirely from the Cu $ » - tom-TIouse books . The oath respecting articles for the ti $ e of the British fisheries , is productive of great evasion , and from its nature and wording , is entirely Qt variance with its spirit .
Respecting the export of linens for bouuty , whether they are the property of British subjects is liable to constant evasion , and by a little evasion , innocent in itself , * the bounty may always be claimed , and which is in fact uniformly the case .
The oaths are so positive , that it seldom occurs they can be understood literally ; if not absolute , they would be less objectionable , although still they would be in a great measure formal .
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Intelligence .- *~ Custom- House and Excise O&ths . @ 4 f
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Bristol Memorial * To the Right Honourable the Lords Com ~ missidners of His Majesty' ' $ Treasury . The Memorial of the Master Wardens and Commonalty of Merchant Venturers of the City of-Bristol , Shewetji ,
That tbe oaths which the present regulations of tbe Custom-House and Excise require from the merchants and others -who have business to transact in those departments , are become exceedingly
numerous , and are often required in proof of facts , with the truth of which tbe parties called upon to take the same cannot he acquainted ^ and in many cases also of so trivial importance , as to be unworthy of so solemn an attestation .
That this practice of transactingbusiness on oath has proved most seriously injurious to tbe Morals of the parties concerned in it . The general and indiscriminate resort to so sacred an appeal has gradually weakened its effect , until it has become utterly inadequate to the end for Which it was originally instituted : in
proof of which lamentable fact , youi * Memorialists need only" refer "to the additional expedients to which it has been found necessary to have recourse , for securing the revenue from frauds , by the imposition of fin « s prnd forfeitures . Under a firm conviction , therefore , thftt so general an administration of oaths i « at
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1819, page 647, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1777/page/59/
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