I.  Europa.  622  35.  Großbritannien  und  Irland,

the  issuing  of  passports,  registration  of  births,  and  deaths,!  and  can  marry  British  subjccts  in
those  countries  whose  laws  do  not  forbid  of  tlıis.  Further  they  must  receive  statements  from
captains  of  British  ships,  as  to  injuries  sustained  at  sea;  receive  complaints  from  British  subjects,
and  generally  look  after  their  interests,  collect  commercial  and  economical  information?.

Customs.  The  King’s  claim  to  customs  was  first  established  by  3  Edw.  I.  They  were
chiefly  laid  on  wool,  woolfels,  and  leather.  Aliens  also  had  to  pay  duties,  denominated  parva
costuma,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  former,  magna  costuma.  The  first  duties  of  tonnage
and  poundage  were  on  wine.  These  duties  when  granted  to  the  crown  were  called  subsidies.  Up
to  the  reign  of  Wm.  III  they  were  1/—  in  the  pound  (5%);  William  received  an  additional  5%.
The  Customs’  Consolidation  Act,  27  Geo.  III.  c.  13  (W.  Pitt  1787)  brought  reform  to  a  state
of  confusion  that  had  grown  in  the  course  of  years.  The  method  adopted  was,  to  abolish  the
existing  duties  on  all  articles,  and  to  substitute  in  their  stead  one  single  duty  on  each  article
equivalent  to  the  aggregate  of  the  various  duties  by  which  it  had  previously  been  loaded.  The
ıesolutions  on  which  the  act  was  founded  amounted  to  about  3,000.  In  1846  thanks  to  Cobden
the  duty  on  corn  was  removed,  from  this  time  on  duties  have  dropped  from  year  to  year.  If
money  is  urgently  needed  the  government  raises  existing  duties,  or  imposes  a  new  duty;  this
is  usually  dropped  when  the  demand  is  met.  Duty  is  levied  at  present  on  35  articles?  i.  e.:  Beer
of  all  kinds;  Cards,  Playing;  Chicory;  Chloral  Hydrate;  Chloroform;  Cocos;  Coffee;  Collodion;
Ether;  Fruit,  Dried,  Preserved;  Glucose;  Molasses;  Saccharin;  Soap;  Spirits  and  Strong  Waters;
‚Sugar;  Blacking;  Candied  or  Drained  Peel;  Caramel;  Cherries,  Drained;  Chutney;  Cocoanut,
Sugared;  Confectionery;  Flowers  in  Crystalized  Sugar;  Fruit,  Canned  and  Bottled,  Chrystalized;
Fruit  Pulp;  Ginger;  Marmalade,  Jams;  Marzipan;  Milk,  Condensed,  Powder;  Milk  Food;  Soy;
Tamarinds;  Tea;  Tobacco;  Wine*.

This  simplification  may  be  said  to  have  been  initiated  by  Sir  Robert  Peel.  When  he
came  into  office  in  1842,  the  customs  included  1200  article.  .....  For  &amp;  while  during  the
S.  African  war  recourse  was  had  to  new  sources  of  revenue,  but  tlıese  are  now  abandoned.

In  1671  the  first  Commissionerse  of  Customs  were  appointed,  with  their  head-quarters  in
London.  In  1830  the  Custom  business  of  Ireland  was  also  transferred  to  London.  The  Board
of  Customs  which  is  one  of  the  four  great  Revenue-collecting  bodies  is  administered  by  a  Chairman,
  &amp;  Deputy-Chairman,  and  a  Commissioner.  The  moneys  received  must  be  paid  into  the
Bank  of  England  to  the  account  of  the  Exchequer.

C£.*Whitaker’s  Almanack’,  and  “Civil  Service  Year  Book’’,  also  Blackstone’s  *“Commentaries
on  the  Laws  of  England,  Vol.  I  p.  314  et  seq.  and  Stephen’s  Commentaries,  Vol.  I  p.  56;  Vol.  II
pp.  212,  363,  560;  Vol  III  pp.  145,  379  and  Vol.  III,  p.  329.

Shipping.

(1)  The  ownership  of  ships  is  regulated  by  special  laws®.  British  ships  can  only  be  ownedeither  by
natural  born  or  naturalised  British  subjects,  or  by  corporations  established  under,  subject  to,  and
having  their  principal  place  of  business  in  the  United  Kingdom  or  a  British  possession.  An  alien

R  ı  But  British  subjects  are  under  no  obligation  to  register  at  tie  British  Consulates  when
abroad.

®:  See  Hall’s  „International  Law”,  5thed.,  pp.  316—-20;  Bacon’s  Abridgment;
Comyn’s  Digest;  Phillimore’s  “International  Law”;  Whitaker's  Almanac  and
Foreign  Office  List.

®  These  articles  are  fully  enumerated;  they  are  reducible  under  about  15  heads.  The  number
of  duty-paying  articles  has  shrunk  from  1,200  in  1842  to  about  fifteen  at  the  present  time.  Sir
W.  Anson:  "Laws  and  Customs  of  the  Constitution”,  Part  II,  vol.  II,  p.  119.

‘  Vide  Whitacker's  Almanack:  Customs  Tariff  of  the  United  Kingdom  (1908—1909).

8&amp;  The  Merchant  Shipping  Act,  1854  (17  and  18  Vict.  c.  104);  The  Merchant  Shipping  Act
Amended,  1862  (24  and  25  Vict.  c.  10.,  $  9)  in  which  special  reference  is  made  to  wrecks.  Jetsam,
flotsam,  and  ligan  belong  to  the  Crown  if  no  owner  claims  them.  Nor  is  according  to  Stephen
(vol.  II  p.  542  et  seq.)  the  casting  overboard  of  cargo  to  lighten  the  ship  to  be  construed  as  renouncement:
  “Quae  enim  res  in  tempestate  levandae  navis  causa  ejiciuntur,  hae  dominorum
permanent.  Quia  palanı  est,  eas  non  eo  animo  ejici  quod  quis  eas  habere  nolit‘““.  Ibid.  See  also
36  and  37  Vict.  ec.  104,  $  30,  and  Chap.  VIII,  Stephen,  vol.  Ill.