THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1908. CUSTOMS METHODS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9065, 14 April 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1908. CUSTOMS METHODS.

The way in which the Customs Department is run is remarkable. Last session it was discovered that an expert had been receiving travelling allowances all the year round for nearly twenty years whether he travelled or did not travel, and mostly he did not. The authorities didn't appear to know anything about the matter until Mr Davey, M.P., a Government supporter, found it out, and sprung a surprise upon the House and the Ministry. The Department is now running to the other extreme. It has just transpired that about a month ago the Customs authorities mane the discovery that a small consignment of matches shipped to Auckland contained an average of two and a-half matches too many in some boxes, and consequently one hundred cases were detained in the wharf sheds, and have been subjected to embargo for a month. The Customs wanted increased duty, and the delay in releasing the goods has been occasioned pending the consideration of the Minister, who has been engaged in touring the country. Meanwhile the unhappy consignee has been debited by the Harbour authorities with twenty-eight days' storage charges. The "care" manifested by the Customs Department in this small matter is in marked contrast with its recklessness or want of care in the much larger matter [ referred to. It would be interesting to know how many boxes of matches the officials opened to count the contents, and the cost through loss of time in making the count and striking the average. If every case of

matches that comes into the dominion is to be subjected to a detailed and rigid examination such as has occurred in Auckland, the Customs staff will have to be enlarged to a fabulous extent. The action of the authorities, however, may prove a boon to the manufacturers of vestas in the dominion, if not to the consumers, as, coupled with the heavy duty upon imported matches, the delay for examination and cost of storage consequent thereupon may prove an effective bar to importation.