Any comments, errors or omissions
gratefully received The Editor
HTML Transcription
© F.Coakley ,
2000
[pages 95-101 1792 Report of Commissioners of Inquiry]
1st, "THAT the Revenues arising to His Grace the Duke of Atholl’s Family were not fairly collected, even prior to the Revestment."
Of this Allegation strong presumptive Evidence arises, from the total Inadequacy of the Establishments then existing to the Security of the Revenues.
It appears by the Examinations of Mr. Quayle, that there was but one Custom-House for the whole Island, which was situated in Castletown, at the Southern Extremity of the Island, that there the Business of the Office of Collector was executed; that the said Office was held by three Persons conjointly, of whom Mr. Quayle was one; that the Emoluments of all three were composed of a Salary of Twenty Pounds Manks, and the following Fees,viz. for a Cocket Sixteen Pence, for an Entry Sixpence, for a Post Entry Three Pence, and for a Permit Sixpence ; that Mr. Quayle held at the same time the Office of Comptroller, whereby he was a Check upon himself and Colleagues in the Office of Collector.
It further appears, by the Testimony of the same Gentleman and others, that the Establishment at the Port of Douglas, the principal Port of the Island, consisted of a Deputy Searcher and an Assistant, so that the whole Duty, not only of taking Account of the Quantities and Qualities of the Goods landed, but also of preventing the landing of Goods by Night or Day without Entry and Payment of Duty, was, at that Port of very great Trade, left to two Individuals, a Number undoubtedly not equal to a sixth Part of the Duty. Their Salaries, as Stated by His Grace the Duke of Atholl, were only Three Pounds Manks a Year to each; whether they had Right to any other Emoluments does not appear. In many instances, the Deputy Searcher was not subject even to that Degree of Check which would arise from his being governed by Warrants from the Collector, as to the Quantities and Qualities of the Goods to be discharged by him ; for it is proved that he used to pass Entries and receive the Duties of Goods himself; of these Duties he might pay over to the Collector as much or as little as he pleased. Moreover, he executed the Office of Chief Constable ; and what is still more extraordinary, he was himself engaged in Trade, and was an Agent for others that were in Trade. In both Capacities of a Trader and an Agent for others, he would have Duties to pay for Goods imported by or consigned to him. To see that these Duties were fairly paid, was left wholly to himself in the Capacity of Deputy Searcher. His Conduct does not appear to have been superintended by any Superior ; and although it had, since the only Consequence of Detection, either in Neglect of Duty or Breach of Trust, was the Loss of Three Pounds a Year, it is not credible that either the Deputy Searcher, or his Assistant, could resist those Temptations, which are mentioned in the Evidence to have been irresistible to the Traders, and which through them would operate upon the Officers. The Establishment at each of the other three Ports of the Island was similar to that of the chief Port, with respect to the Number and Rank of the Officers, only that the Collector resided at Castletown. As to the Quantum of Salary, the only Variation was at Castletown, where the Deputy Searcher had Five Pounds, and his Assistant One Pound, per Annum. It does not appear whether any of these Officers held other Employments, or were engaged in Trade. In all other Particulars, the aforegoing Observations on the Establishment at Douglas, are applicable to those of the rest of the Ports ; in short, these Establishments were formed upon a Scale so absurdly aeconomical, that none of the Offices of which they consisted could be accepted by any Person; with an Intention to execute his Duty faithfully ; nor could the most honest Intentions, united to to the most active Exertions in all those Persons, have availed to prevent any considerable Proportion of the Loss which the Lord Proprietor must have suffered in his Revenue, by the landing of Goods without the Payment of Duties. The Inferences thus deduced by Reasoning from the Nature of the Thing, are exemplified and confirmed by Evidence of the Fact. It clearly appears by the Examinations, that in those Days the landing of Goods without Payment of the Lord’s Duties was practised to a considerable Extent. The Loss which the Lord suffered by those Practices, cannot be estimated from any Information which the Evidence affords ; only one of the Witnesses gives it as his Opinion, founded on his own Observation, that the Duke’s Ancestor was defrauded of several Thousand Pounds a Year in that way.
Since the Commissioners left the Island, they have received a Letter, of Date the 29th of October last, from the Attorney-General of the Isle, in which are contained various Facts, Observations, and Arguments, relative to this Branch of the Inquiry, of which it may be proper to take notice. The Learned Gentleman begins with acquainting the Commissioners, that he has not as yet been able to complete his further Remarks upon those Points, concerning which the Commissioners, on their Arrival in the Island, requested Information from him ; that another Subject has engaged his Attention, viz. that of the Revenue of the Customs in the Isle prior to 1765, respecting which he has received such material Information, as (to use his own Words) " may require you to renew your Attention to that Subject." He then cites from the Commissioners Instructions, the two Allegations of the Duke, " That the Revenues, prior to 1765, were not fairly collected ; and that the Duke’s Family had the Power of increasing those Duties, with the Consent of the Legislature, which, to any reasonable Degree, would not have been withheld :" And proceeds to lay, that he thinks it his Duty to bring forward those Facts by which such Assertions are to be repelled ; and in Contravention to them to state, in Addition to the Testimony which has been given on the Cross-Examination of His Grace’s Witnesses, what he has learnt from very respectable Authority, and from Evidence which admits of no Hesitation in his Belief. After this Preamble, the Learned Gentleman proceeds to state, that from the Amount of the Revenue of Customs in this Island prior to 1765, compared with the cotemporary State of its Trade, it is manifest, that only a very small Proportion payable to the Lord Proprietor, arose from fair Commerce ; that far the greatest Part accrued from an illicit and unjustifiable Traffic in Tobacco and other Debenture Goods ; in East India Commodities in Spirits and Wine ; and that even these Profits were declining before the Island was sold. If the Fact had been stated thus, That the far greater Part of the Customs received by the Lord Proprietor of the Isle of Man prior to 1765, arose from the Importation of Articles, which, bearing high Duties in Great Britain, were re-exported from the Isle of Man for that Kingdom, and there landed without Payment of Duty, in defraud of the British Revenue ; and that a very small Part of the Insular Customs arose upon Articles imported for the Consumption of the Inhabitants : If Mr. Attorney-General had stated the Fact thus simply, without such Words as " illicit and unjustifiable," he would have stated a Truth of such Notoriety, that nobody has ever, in the Course of this Inquiry, imagined it to require a Proof. The Arguments of the Duke of Atholl, in his Paper No. 3, imply and are adapted to that State of the Fact.
In the Historical Detail of the Insular Revenue, which follows the Position above mentioned, there are but few Particulars which appear in anyways material. One of these is, the Learned Gentleman’s Opinion, That the Trade of the Island, prior to 1765, was contrary to the Acts 7 Geo. I. Cap. 20. Sect. 9. and 12 Geo. I. Cap. 28. Sect. 21, 22, 23, and 24. ; and that the Revenue arising from such illegal Trade could not be the proper Subject of a Compensation. In the Act of 1765, however, Parliament, who were perfectly well informed of the Nature of the Trade, appear to consider the Amount of the Revenues of the Island, as the chief Object of Consideration, inasmuch as that Act expressly refers to an Account of their annual Produce for ten Years preceding, and has that Account annexed to it. But it is proper that the Opinion of Mr. Attorney-General, mentioned above, should receive due Consideration. It is probably the Meaning of that Learned Gentleman, and also of the Keys, (as would appear from their Cross Questions,) to maintain, that the Importation into the Isle of Man, of Goods which had been exported upon Debenture, or for Drawback, from Great Britain, was contrary to the 21st and 23d Sections of the last-mentioned Act, which took away the Drawback upon all Foreign Goods exported to the Isle of Man; and made it penal to enter such Goods for other Places on Debenture, and yet carry them to the Isle of Man. Now, in the first place, it does not appear from the Evidence, whether any considerable Part of the Insular Revenue arose upon Goods imported from Britain. In the next place, supposing it were proved that Goods were imported from Britain, on which Duties arose, it ought to be considered, that the Lord’s Officers could not perceive that the Enactment alluded to had been transgressed, unless it had appeared to them that these Goods had been entered in Britain for some other Place than the Isle of Man ; and that they had been so entered on Debenture or for Drawback; which, certainly, the Importer into the Island would never inform them. Lastly, supposing it had been avowed, that Goods had been exported from Great Britain to the Isle of Man, contrary to the Clauses in question, this would infer no Offence against that Act in the Importer or Consignee in the Isle of Man, who entered, landed, and paid Duty for the Goods in that Island ; far less in the Lord Proprietor of the Isle of Man, or his Officers, who admitted them to be entered and landed : For the Prohibition contained in the Clauses in question neither extends, nor was meant to extend, to the Persons who received the Goods in the Isle of Man. The Thing prohibited is expressed thus : " If any Merchant or other Person shall enter any Foreign Goods for Exportation, to Parts other than the Isle of Man, in order to obtain Drawback for the same, and such Goods shall nevertheless be carried to the said Island and there landed."
The Offence originates in the fraudulent Entry ; accordingly, the penal Consequences annexed to the Offence are confined to the Person who makes that Entry, and to his instrument, the Master of the Ship. An Instance is to be found in the Act 5th Geo. III.. Cap. 43. sec. 32, of a Prohibition exactly similar, against the exportation or Debenenture Goods, and of certain other Goods, to the Islands of Faro, or Fero, under the Dominion of the King of Denmark. it could not be in the Contemplation of the Legislature, that Persons resident in Faro, subject to the Laws of that Country, were to be bound by this Prohibition, enacted by the Parliament of Great-Britain. Another Position, which is perhaps intended to be maintained for evincing the Illegality of the Trade, is, That the Trade was contrary to the twenty-second Section of the said Act 12th Geo. I. which prohibited the Importation into Great Britain of all Goods from the Isle of Man, which were not the Produce of the island. This Exception to its Legality goes only to the Export Trade from the Isle of Man;, it cannot, therefore, affect the Right of the Lord Proprietor to his Customs, which all arose on Importation, But supposing the Duties had accrued from the Trade of Exportatioin, the Lord’s Officers could not know that Foreign Goods entered outwards with them, were intended to be imported into Great Britain, (unless the Exporter declared so, which is very unlikely,) nor, consequently, that the Clause in question was intended to be contravened. But the decisive Answer to this Position is, that neither the Intention nor the Words of the Act do extend its Operation or Effect to the Isle of Man, nor to any other Place beyond the Line which limits the Extent of the British Ports to Seaward. A Vessel might take on board Foreign Goods in the Isle of Man, and with those Goods come within a Cable’s Length of the Boundary of any British Port, without transgressing either the Intent or the Words of this Provision.
It is particularly stated by Mr. Attorney General, and it seems to be a principal Ground taken by the Keys, That great Quantities of India Goods were imported into the Isle of Man, in Contravention to the other Act above-mentioned, viz. 7 Geo. I. Cap. 20. This Act) of which the main Object was to secure and extend the Monopoly of the East India Company, does, in, Section 9th, ordain, That no East India Goods which are not shipped in Great Britain, shall be imported or carried into Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, or Man, or. any.Plantations, &c. to His Majesty, or the Crown of Great Britain, in Africa or America belonging, on Pain of forfeiting such Goods, with the Ship in which they should be imported.; of which Forfeiture a Moiety is given to the Seizor, with Power to prosecute the same in any Court of Record at Westminster or Dublin,or in any of His Majesty’s Courts in such Plantations, &c. where the Offence should be committed, or in the Royal Courts of Guernsey or Jersey. It appears by the Evidence, that India Silks were imported into the Island which had been bought at the India House in London ;—this was conformable. to the Act above cited. On the other Hand it appears, that Tea (the Duty on which formed a considerable Article of the Lord’s Customs) was imported into the Island from Denmark and Sweden, which Importation was contrary to the Provision of the recited Act.
Before determining that no Compensation was due for Duties received upon Goods Imported contrary to the Tenor of this Act, Parliament might think it just to consider, whetherthe Power assumed, and exercised in the pasting of that Act, as far as it related to the Isle of Man, did of right belong to the British Legislature, or was consistent with the Royal Grants, and Parliamentary Confirmation thereof, by virtue of which the Island was holden of the Crown by the Lords Proprietors ; and whether it is not probable, that the Isle of Man would have been struck out of the Bill before it passed into a Law, if its being comprized in it had been noticed and objected to by those interested.
It is true, that that Part of this Provison which respects the Isle of Man, any more than the Rest of it, has never been repealed ; whence it may be inferred, that the Right of Parliament to legislate for the Isle of Man was, in this Instance, acquiesced in. But with respect to the Isle of Man, this Provision was so lame, that it never could be carried into Execution, and therefore it was not an Object to any Person to sue for its Repeal. It gave Power indeed to all Persons, without Distinction, to seize vessels and Goods thereby forfeited in the Isle of Man ; but it did not give Power to any Description of Men to enter into Ships, Vessels, Warehouses, or other Places in the said isiand, in order to look or search for such Goods. Proceedings of that Kind in the Isle of Man, or within its Maritime Jurisdiction, would have been punishable by the Law of the Country, as they would have been in Britain, but for the express Authority of SpeciaI Acts of Parliament : Moreover, although this Clause gave Jurisdiction to the Courts of Westminster to adjudge Forfeitures thereby created, it did not extend to the Isle of Man the Power which those Courts had within their own. Territory, of compelling the Attendance of’ Witnesses, without which all other Judicial Powers must ever be ineffectual. After the Revestment, but not before, these Defects in this Clause were cured by the 1st and 14th Sections of the Act 5 Geo. III Cap. 39.
In the subsequent Act of the 12th of Geo. I. already mentioned, the Frauds and Abuses committed to the Prejudice of the British Revenue, by Means of the Trade to and from the Isle of Man, are the Evils proposed for Remedy and Prevention : If the Legislature had then deemed itself to, be invested with Authority to make Laws to bind the Lordship and People of Man, it could have crushed the obnoxious Branches of the Insular Trade, by Statutory Restrictions and Regulations similar to those enacted immediately after the Revestment. But far from giving Laws to the inhabitants of the Isle of Man, Parliament, as it has already been pointed out, established by that Ac1 Regulations merely Internal to Great Britain and Ireland, to which is subjoined a Provision "for the better enabling His Majesty to prevent the said Frauds and Abuses," empowering the Treasury to treat for and conclude on the Purchase of the Island.
In discontinuing, by that Act, the Payment of Drawback on Foreign Goods exported to the Isle of Man, the Legislature would seem to have assumed, or supposed, that the Act 7th of Geo. I. could not, or did not receive Effect in that Island ; for the Co-existence and Co-operation of both those Acts would have implied such an absolute Dominion in the Britith Parliament over the People of Man, as would appear wholly incompatible with the Right which they enjoyed, uncontested prior to the Revestment, of being taxed, exclusively, by their own Legislature. The one Act denied them the Liberty of importing East India Goods from any other Place than Great Britain ; the other denied them the Drawback on those Goods when exported from Great Britain. Thus would they have been subjected to pay the full Britith Duties on those Goods, Duties of which no Part accrued to the Treasury of the Isle of Man, but which were to be wholly applied to the Purposes of the British Government ; a Stretch of Power so eccentrick as this could not be intended by Parliament, which therefore must be presumed in passing the Act 12th Geo. I. not to have deemed the Act of the 7th Geo. I. to be effectual in the Isle of Man. The subsequent Increase and Magnitude of the Trade of the Isle of Man so hurtful to the Revenues of Great Britain and Ireland, as described by Mr. Attorney General, were surely suflicient to have excited the British Legislature to the Exertion of every Power competent to it, for the Suppression of that Trade ; yet, except in the feeble Instance of the 7th Geo. I. it never once attempted to extend its Arm to that Island till after the Revestment. It would seem probable in Theory, that East India Goods, as they were deprived of the Drawback, would never be brought to the Isle of Man from Great Britain ; and consequently, that the Trade of the island in those Articles, would be supplied from other Countries. This Presumption, however, does not apply to Silks and Printed Callicoes, which, in Great Britain, being prohibited for Home Use, are warehoused for Exportation But in point of Fact there is no that Debenture Goods, by the fraudulent Entry of the British Exporter, did find their Way from Great Britain to the Isle of Man.
All the Arguments of the Attorney General throughout his discussion of this subject, suppose, as a Thing proved or admitted, that the Trade from which the Lord’s Revenue arose was contrary to the Laws of Great-Britain. It appears, however, that except the Clause of the 7th George I. against which the Exceptions which have been stated occur, the Learned Gentleman has not shewn one Instance in which the Trade of the Isle of Man, either of Import or Export, was prohibited, restrained, or in any Manner affected, by the Laws of Great.Britain.
It was before noticed, that Mr. Attorney-General had stated, That even those "Profits," (accruing, as he describes them, from illicit and unjustifiable Traffick,) were declining before the Sale of the Island." In another Place, after enumerating the Causes of it, he says, " Accordingly the Produce of the Duties fell off after 1761, and they were likely to have continued on the Decline." in a preceding Part of his Letter, speaking of the Lord’s Customs, he makes use of these Words :—" And their average Amount for Ten Years immediately preceding 1765, (as correctly stated in the Schedule to the Act of that Date,) was about Six Thousand Four Hundred Pounds Manks ; and immediately subjoins, that during the latter Part of this Period the Trade began to be divided."
Now upon looking into this Schedule it is found, that the latest Year comprised in it is 1763 ; so that after 1761 , there are only Two Years to compare with those preceding them. In the first Five Years of the Period of the Account, the Customs were never much under Five Thousand Pounds, but never amounted to Six Thousand Pounds ; in 1759 they amounted to Eight Thousand and Eighty-two Pounds ; in 1760 they were Seven Thousand and Ninety. three Pounds ; in 1761 , Nine Thousand Five Hundred and Forty-four Pounds ; in 1762, Six Thousand Three Hundred and Ninety-one Pounds ; in 1763, Seven Thousand and Twenty-nine Pounds, all Manks Money. The extraordinary Importation of 1761 seems to have occasioned that of 1762 to sink ; but in 1763, it rose to near that of 1760. The Causes assigned by the Attorney General for this imagined Decline, have no Weight with me, viz. 1st, That the Trade began to be divided into another Channel, which took a large Share of it from this. Island, and threatened to have deprived it of more.—.This new Channel was the Island of Faro, or Fero, near Iceland. 2dly, That Cutters were also stationed in the surrounding Seas, and greater Vigilance and Stricthess than formerly were used by the Custom.House of England in watching the Proceedings on this Coast ; and two large Dutch Vessels, which used to bring valuable Cargoes to the Isle of Man, were seized at Liverpool. By these Means the Trade had been considerably impaired ; and it is apprehended, if vigorous Measures had been adhered to, it might have been well nigh suppressed. For, I say, let any one look on a Map of the North Sea, and then lay, whether ever Faro could become a Rival to Man in the Exportation of Goods to be run upon the Coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, surrounding the Isle of Man? Such a Trade has been carried on from Faro for many Years past; and in Comparison with the Trade of the Isle of Man prior to 1765, even with the Advantage arising from the Stop put to that Trade, every one knows how inconsiderable the Trade of Faro has ever been. With respect to those, vigorous Meadures which had such a powerful Effect from 1761 to 1765, towards the Suppression of the Trade of Man ; it Seems strange, that Government Should not have felt the Injury which the British Revenue suffered from this Trade till Four Years after it began to decline, and till it had been considerably impaired ; it seems likewise strange, that the Scotch Revenue Boards should in the Year 1765, in a Memorial to the Treasury, represent that Trade as being of late carried on with a higher Hand than before ; and that the Situation of the Island, and the mode of carrying on the Trade, were such " as must in a great Degree render ineffectual every Attempt of the Servants of the Revenue to put a material Stop to it."
The Observations down to the 11th Line of the 6th Page hereof, were all that I intended to have offered upon the Duke’s First Allegation ; but after receiving the Attorney General’s Letter of the 29th of October last, I judged it my Duty to comply with his Request, and to take the Matter again under my Consideration, with his Statement ; and having done so, my further Observations, from the Line and Page just mentioned, are humbly submitted to the Secretary of State,
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Any comments, errors or omissions
gratefully received The Editor |
||