and certifies on the entry that such goods are in all respects in the same condition and are of the same value as when entered for duty on importation. A minimum penalty of £200 is imposed for entering goods not entitled to drawback or for entering at a higher rate than allowed.

THE EFFECT OF THE NEW TARIFF.

The encouragement given to the manufacturers of perfumes and other articles in which spirits are necessary ingredients, will, it is supposed, largely increase the manufacture of these articles. Heretofore the manufacturers have labored under great disadvantages, the duty on spirits alone being 14 shillings (about $3.50) per gallon, and they had to pay a still higher duty per gallon for spirits above proof. For the manu facture of perfumery the strongest spirits of wine is necessary; that which is most generally in use is 66 O. O. P. (above proof), and cost the manufacturer in duty alone fully $5.50 per gallon. The new act, as previously mentioned, does away with this duty under certain restrictions, thus allowing perfumery, and other toilet articles in which spirits are used, to be manufactured in bond. Moreover, all imported perfumed spirits and cologne water are taxed at the rate of 21 shillings ($5.25) per gallon. While the new tariff will afford protection to a limited num ber of home manufacturers, it is questionable whether it will increase the revenue of the colony or not; indeed, many are of the opinion that it will cause a perceptible falling off in the custom-house receipts.

THE REVENUE OF NEW ZEALAND.

If the revenue of New Zealand is to be taken as evidence of the prosperity of the colony, the returns for the quarter ending September 30, 1881, certainly show a very gratifying state of affairs. The total rev enue collected at all the ports of New Zealand for said quarter was $19,402.15, against $15,626.40 for the corresponding quarter of 1880.

I give below a table showing the general revenue of New Zealand for each year since 1870.

Revenue of the Colony of New Zealand for each year from 1870 to 1880, inclusire.

All articles under this heading are taxed with ad valorem duty of 15 per cent., together with 10 per cent. added on the amount of invoice, or, in other words, the goods are valued by the Government as being 10 per cent. more value to the importer when receiving them. Small articles in silk for office use in binding legal documents are also subjected to an ad valorem duty of 15 per cent. with the additional 10 per cent. already referred to. There are exemptions in stationery, the utility of which is not altogether clear to me, for instance: "Paper, writing and machine made, of sizes not less than the size known as demy (20 by 15 inches), when in original wrappers, and with uncut edges as it leaves the mill." An importer of this staple is exempted from an ad valorem of 15 per cent. and 10 per cent. as above explained, by ordering the goods unruled and with uncut edges.

There is, I believe, a monopoly of these goods existing here. Everything of this kind in use by the law and commercial community is imported from England, and the prices of this staple are exorbitant in the extreme.

UNITED STATES CONSULATE,

Auckland, N. Z., October 28, 1881.

G. W. GRIFFIN, Consul.

AN ACT to alter the duties of customs and excise.

[24th September, 1881.]

2. On and after the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred and eightyone, in lieu of the duties of customs heretofore chargeable on the articles next hereinafter mentioned, there shall be levied, collected, and paid to Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, upon the same on importation into the colony, or on being cleared from any warehouse for home consumption, the several duties following, namely:

3. The articles next hereinafter mentioned shall be exempt from duties of customs on the importation thereof into the colony, namely:

Alum.

Axes and hatchets.

Borax.

Calicoes, white and gray, in the piece.

Carriage materials-namely, American cloth, shafts, spokes, felloes, naves, and tacks. Chaff.

Cheese cloth.

Colored cotton shirtings, in the piece.

Corduroy (cotton), in the piece.

Cotton dress prints, navy blue, or other similar description of cotton piece goods.

Gold size.

Hessian bags.

Iron-wire netting.

Moleskin, in the piece.

Nitric acid.

Rough brown holland, in the piece.

Sewing cottons, silks and threads.

Spades, shovels, and forks.

Tailors' trimmings-namely, black and brown canvas, silesias, verona, Italian cloth; flexible coat and vest, metal, and bone buttons; silk, worsted, and cotton bindings and braids.

4. Section 4 of "the customs tariff act, 1880," is hereby repealed.

5. In lieu of the bonus specified in section twelve of "the tobacco act, 1879," the following provision shall take effect, on and after the passage of this act, namely: The duty upon tobacco manufactured in the colony from tobacco grown in the colony shall be one shilling the pound; and this rate of duty shall remain in force until the thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, unless previously altered by act of the general assemby.

6. If the excise duty on New Zealand grown and manufactured tobacco be increased before the thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, or if the laws or regulations respecting the manufacture of tobacco in the colony bé

altered or amended before that date, no claim for compensation shall be entertained or sum of money be paid out of the public moneys of the colony to any tobacco manufacturer or person in any way interested in the growth, manufacture, or sale of tobacco, in respect of such increase of duty, or alteration of laws or regulations respecting the manufacture of tobacco.

7. The commissioner of customs may from time to time approve and appoint warehouses or places of security at any port for the manufacture therein, under such conditions as he may from time to time prescribe in that behalf, of perfumery and other articles in which spirit is a necessary ingredient; and he may make regulations for removing spirits to and securing them at such warehouses or places, and he may direct in what cases, and with what sureties, and to what amount security by bond or otherwise shall be required in respect of any such warehouse or place, or in respect of any spirits deposited therein; and any spirits when manufactured into perfumery or other articles so that the same shall not be potable may be delivered free of duty.

8. The twelfth and thirteenth sections of "the drawbacks act, 1872," and the whole of "the drawbacks act amendment act, 1873," shall be and are hereby repealed on and from the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two.

9. The governor may, by order in council from time to time, specifiy the articles on which a drawback of duty paid on importation into New Zealand may be allowed on exportation therefrom, and the rate of drawback to be so allowed; and may alter and cancel any such order, and may approve of regulations and conditions under which drawbacks may be allowed: Provided that no drawback of duty shall be allowed on spirits, cordials, liqueurs, bitters, tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, snuff, opium, wine, coffee (ground), chicory, spices, perfumery, and jewelry; nor shall drawback be allowed on any goods which shall be of less value than the amount of drawback claimed in respect thereof.

10. A drawback of the full duty paid on importation may be allowed on any goods entitled to drawback of duties, if exported in original packages as imported: Provided that the number and date of the entry on which the import duty was paid be specified in the entry for drawback, and, in the case of goods liable to ad valorem duty, that the original stamped invoices according to which the duty was paid when the goods were imported be produced along with such entry, and, if the collector thinks fit, that the goods be compared therewith prior to being shipped: And provided also that the proper officer of customs in every case satisfies himself, and certifies on the entry, that such goods are in all respects in the same condition and are of the same value as when they were entered for duty on importation.

11. The commissioner of customs may from time to time make regulations for the repacking, clearance, and shipment of goods entitled to be cleared for drawback, and from time to time may alter or cancel such regulations.

12. If any person shall knowingly enter or attempt to enter for drawback any goods not entitled to drawback, or at a higher rate of drawback than is for the time being allowed on such goods, or at a higher value for drawback than the fair market value of such goods at the port at which the same are entered for drawback, or as of a greater quantity or weight than the actual quantity or weight of such goods, he shall forfeit the sum of two hundred pounds, or treble the value of the goods, or treble the amount of the drawback claimed, at the election of the commissioner of customs; and all such goods, and the packages containing the same, together with all other goods contained therein, shall be forfeited.

13. Every sum of money which shall have been overpaid as duties of customs, or which shall be due upon any drawback debenture, or any certificate or other instrument for the payment of any money out of the duties of customs, may be paid by any collector of customs out of any customs revenue in his hands, in such manner as the commissioner of customs may direct, and every such payment shall be allowed by the controller and auditor-general in the settling or auditing of the accounts of the

customs.

14. The duties of customs imposed by this act shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid under the provisions of "the customs regulation act, 1858," and "the customs regulation act amendment act, 1868," and subject also to all such provisions and regulations as may for the time being be in force for the collection, management, and receipt of the duties of customs in the colony; and all fines, forfeitures, penalties, and charges recoverable under this act may be recovered and applied in the manner directed by "the customs regulation act, 1858," and "the customs regulation act amendment act, 1868."

15. The provisions of "the customs tariff act, 1866," "the customs tariff act, 1873," "the customs tariff act, 1878," "the customs tariff act, 1879," and "the customs tariff act, 1880," not inconsist with or expressly altered by or under this act, shall be read with and as part of this act.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

MAY 14, 1884.-Ordered to be printed.

Mr. CAMDEN, from the Committee on Pensions, submitted the following

REPORT:

[To accompany bill H. R. 2677.]

The Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2677) granting a pension to Mary P. MacBlair, have carefully considered the same and the papers therewith submitted, and report:

Your committee adopt the report of the House committee in this case as containing a substantial statement of the facts, which report is as follows:

Mr. G. W. HEWITT, from the Committee on Pensions, submitted the following report, to accompany bill H. R. 2677:

The Committee on Pensions, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2677) granting a pension to Mary P. MacBlair, have had the same under consideration, and submit the following report:

Miss Mary P. MacBlair is the daughter of the late Thomas P. MacBlair, who served in the Navy as purser from November 11, 1839, to his death, February 17, 1857. He died on board the Merrimac, after more than seventeen years of arduous and gallant service. Three children survived him, his wife having died one year previous to his death. His children were granted a pension, at the rate of $30 a month, from the father's death till May 12, 1870, when the youngest had reached the age of sixteen years. Purser MacBlair died poor, leaving his children nothing save a good name. One of the children is now dead. Of the two surviving Alice is insane and is confined in an asylum; the other, Mary P., who seeks relief at the hands of Congress, made her own living until her health gave way under hard work, and her eyes began to fail. Added to her blindness is serious spinal disease, and she is wholly incapable of earning a living. She has no home and no relatives able to aid her. At present she is in a charitable institution in Philadelphia, but will not be permitted to remain there longer than two or three months. Being as helpless now as when her father died, she needs the protecting care of the Government which that father so gallantly served, and your committee think her claims for a pension as strong now as they were when she was an infant. The general pension laws now give pensions to children of tender years because it is presumed that they are unable to support themselves until they are sixteen years of age. But if from sickness or any physical or mental cause a soldier's child is unable to earn a living, the spirit of the law would require that the pension be continued.

Your committee, under the exceptional circumstances of this case, report the bill favorably, with the following amendment: In line eight, after the words "at the rate of," strike out "thirty dollars" and insert "fifteen dollars," and recommend the passage of the bill as amended as stated.