A.—6

4

4. Upon the publication in the Gazette of any such agreement, the products and manufactures which under such agreement are exempted from Customs duties, wharfage, and charges, or subjected to reduced Customs duties, wharfage, and charges, as the case may be, may be imported free of Customs duties, wharfage, or other charges, or subject to such reduced Customs duties, wharfage, or charges as is set forth in such agreement, so long as such agreement continues in force. 5. The Governor in Council may from time to time make, alter, or rescind orders for carrying this Act into effect, and for determining what articles come within its provisions ; and all such orders shall be published in the Gazette. 6. This Act may be cited as " The Intercolonial Customs Duties Act."

No. 5. Mr. Seed to the Commissioner of Customs. Interchange of Colonial Products between Tasmania and New Zealand. 23rd June, 1874. The accompanying return, compiled from the Trade Statistics for 1873, shows that New Zealand would lose nearly £6,000 per annum of Customs revenue by acceding to the proposals contained in the letter on this subject from the Government of Tasmania. The value of the articles proposed in that letter to be exempted from duty which were imported from Tasmania into New Zealand in 1873 amounted to £56,738. The value of similar articles exported from New Zealand to Tasmania in 1873 amounted to £1,333. With regard to the Tasmanian Intercolonial Customs Duties Act, I observe that by the 2nd section any agreement can only be altered or rescinded by consent of all the parties thereto, so that under this arrangement it would be hopeless to expect Tasmania or any other colony to agree readily to rescind an agreement which was proving highly advantageous to it when urged to do so by a colony that found it was suffering serious loss by the agreement. It is true that the 3rd section of the Act provides for agreements being annulled by Parliament, but the Executive should have similar power, otherwise much delay might occur in getting an agreement put an end to, and the revenue of the colony might thereby be exposed to unnecessary loss. The fairest plan would be to provide that any agreement might be rescinded by either party giving, say, three months' notice of their desire for it to be terminated. W. Seed. *

RETURN showing the QUANTITY and VALUE of the undermentioned ARTICLES IMPORTED from Tasmania to New Zealand, and the AMOUNT of DUTY collected thereon, during the Year 1873; also QUANTITY and VALUE of all ARTICLES EXPORTED from New Zealand to Tasmania, and IMPORTED from Tasmania into New Zealand during the same period.

Exports fn >m New Zi 'asmania. ialand to Imports from Tai lania into "ew Zealand. Articles proposed to be admitted Duty Free in Tasmania and in Mew Zealand. Quantity. Value. Duty. Quantity. Value. Duty. Butter • Fish—Potted and Preserved Flax Flour Fruit—Bottled and Preserved „ Dried... „ Green Grain —Barley „ Beans and Peas Malt Wheat Hops 28 lbs. 33 pkgs. £ 1 61 £ 8. 0 2 6 2 d. 4 0 £ £ s. d 33 108 tons 13 cwt. 2,394 pkgs. 1,849 4,354 108 13 435 8 0 0 1| tons 56 lbs. 15,840 pkgs. ... 634 bush. lOlibush. 120 bush. 7 bush. 270 pockets, 76 bales 5,369 pkgs. 1,307,958 ft. ... 66 1,374,285 56,074 8,398,500 1 7,507 209 45 60 3 4,509 9,951 9,685 119 10,327 1,016 7,041 0 4 11 17 2 5 9 0 0 3 655 10 995 2 1,307 19 8 9 9 0 2 0 0 0 Jams Timber —Sawn Logs „ Palings „ Posts and Eails „ Shingles „ Spars 1,374 5 132 7 839 17 6 2 0 51,800 ft. 102 160 800 34 10 0 120 21 Totals ... £56,738 5,878 17 4 £1,113 34 10 0