CHARGES ON PARCELS BY STEAMERS.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 151, 29 June 1887, Page 4

CHARGES ON PARCELS BY STEAMERS.

There seems to be room for a good solid British growl at the tremendou 8 rates charged for carriage of small parcels by ocean-going steamers, and particularly at the wharfage, storage, ahd other dues, the effect of which is to practically prohibit the receiving or sending of such packages. In addition to the letters that have already appeared on the subject, we have one from "J.C," who wants to know if it is necessary that he should be called upon to pay " landing," "storing," "wharfage," "cartage," " 3s 6d k .for passing entry," and so on. He adds :—" It appears to me I have a right to my parcel when. I have at least paid freight and wharfage on a few pounds weight, and tho Customs duty, If so, how is this to be done ?" Our correspondent has no doubt go«d cause for complaint, but he will not be astonished at the charges when made" acquainted with the circumlocution office through yvhic'Ja sucb busine?6 has;

to be put. The modus operandi is described to us as follows: —Let it be; taken for granted that the parcel sent! from England is of the smallest possi-i ble value. Presuming then that the owner hands his bill of lading to an agent and has not an invoice, the agent has first to passt a sight entry, which means the filling in of two forms, going to the Custom House, lodging a deposit to cover tho estimated duty,; taking the forms .down the wharf, where , a Customs Officer is required to be in attendance whilst a man with tools opens the case. Then the Customs officer certifies to the assessed value of the goods for.duty, and the agei*fc returns to his oflice and fills up three " perfecting " sights. Then again, he goes to the Custom-house to pay the correct duty, and apply for a refund of his deposit, which, by the way, the Customs keep until the end of the month. Then the agent goes to.the Harbour Board to pass wharfage entries, of which two copies are required. Next he goes to the shipping agents, presents the bill of lading, and gets the delivery order of goods/after payment of freight, or without if the freight be prepaid. The document is then handed over to a carter, who is sent to the /wharf for the; package, which in due course reaches its destination. For the whole of this circumlocution a Customs agent charges 3s 6d, or 5s if his time has been very much encroached upon. If the agents of the ship pass entries they have to go through the same form, but it should be observed, that it costs just the same to pass entries for a whole shipload in one line of goods as for the smallest package. Of course, a consignee can present his bill of lading at the office of the ship, and get a delivery order for his goods on payment of the freight, but before he can obtain possession of the goods the various departments interested must be satisfied, as has been stated, aud it is doubtful whether an amateur attempting to go through tbe necessary routine will not waste more than 3s 6d worth of time. If goods are not claimed when discharged they are stored for the protection of the owner, and wharfage must be paid, the minimum charge being 3d per package; the cost of cartage may be put down at Js 6d, cost of entry forms, 9d, and added to this there will be duty according to the Tariff' Act. We might also mention that Qustoms agents before they can discharge such business give bonds to H.M. Customs themselvw in aud two sureties each to unsure the Customs against any illegality. This account of the cumbrous machin--ery througirwhich every little package has to pass before reaching its lawful owner would would be ludicrous were it not that it discloses a wbfully stupid and unequal state of things.- There is surely some method devisable whereby small packages could be checked and delivered without the consignees being put to such trouble and expense; We commend the subject to the attention of practical reformers, - The best remedy, of course, would be the establishment of a parcel post between Enigland and her colonies, but until our postal authorities have given us the long-promised inland service, we suppose it is useless for us to [talk to them about a foreign exchange.]