THE TOLL OF THE CUSTOMS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10050, 26 July 1910, Page 7

THE TOLL OF THE CUSTOMS.

The Customs D. p rt rent an dally prepare a seiies of tanks showing tie consumption per head of articles in cemmon use. By this process interesting comparisons can he made showing how the popularity of articles in every day use fluctuates. Last year seems to be notable in this respect for an all-round diminution in the consumption of intoxicants and tobacco, while an] improved demand of tea and sugar was indicated, contemporaneous with the r.".'d:>ction of duty in the case of tea an.:! its abolition so far as sujar is concerned. Calculating up<n thf nasi* of the adult population, th-. 1 -.v.rage consumption of spirits riy each individual last year was 2.2(5 gallons, paying a c'uty of £1 16a 2J per head. During the previous year the consumption was 2.45 gallons.

The bill for wine djty ran into Is ljd per head as compared with Is 3Jd in the previous year, when 10.418 gallons more passed t-rough the Customs during last year. Imported ale is drunk to an extent which returns B£d per head to the revenue. This was a penny less than in 1908, when the consumption was two-fifths of a gallon per head. Tie

bigger demand for New Zealand brewed ili results in a return of 3$

3Jd per head in excise duty on 13.1 gallon?. The reduced consumption year showed itself in a reduction of beer duty equalling If d per head of the male and ferrule p< phlation over the age of fifteen. The tobacco consumption averages 7.171bs and a return of £1 4s 10f<i in dufy for every adult male in the country. Its lessened importation last year meant a decPne of 6|d in the revenue per. cdult. The ngtsr, snuff, cigarette duty bill went back last year by 9d per head. There is no duty on tea, but the importations nre carefully roted, and ran into 7.081bs per head t.f the population over the age of fifteen. The importations in the previous year equalled G.4llbs on the pame basis. Coffee, cocoa, and chicory are declining in popular taste. About ten years ago the average yearly consumption exceeded tlvee-quarters of a pound per head, but last year's figures show that it was a little less than half a pound. A factor in the decline may be the continued impost tion of a duty, which equals IJd per annum for everyone in the Dominion. Sugar was imported to the extent of 114.471bs per head last year, an increase of nearly 11 lbs. This was a record for any free-duty year. Customs revenue equal to £2 4s 5d per annum for every resident in the country was collected in 1889. Last year it equalled £2 lis 7|d, showing an increase of 44 per cent.

CUSTOMS COLLECTION.

DETAILS OFJ THE AMOUNT.

The r,et smount of Customs and other revenue collected by the Customs Department last year was £2,866,580. It was received under the following heads—

Customs duties 2,671,121 Rents, seizures, etc. 333 Bonded-warehouse duty 4,849 Beer duty 115,371 Gold duty 29,180 Light dues 34,384 Pilotage and port charges 1.525 Chinese Immigrant Act 300 Distillation Act 182

Act, fees 5,109 Shipping Acts 1,359 Timber export duties 25 Other receipts 2,212

The returt issued last week by the Department shows the net r.ollection at each port of entry, and also the rate per cent, of cost of collection. The figures for the four principal ports are as underNet Rate per Collection. cent. £ £ s. d. AucKland 721,694 1 8 10 Wellington 717,036 1 9 10 Dunedin and

Pt Chalmers 441,522 1 9 0 Lytellton 427,548 1 12 5 Figures for some of the smaller ports are as follow—Napier, £92,552; Wanganui. £68,883; New Plymouth, £43,096; Nelson, £39,215.